Wilmington, Del. - Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. got court approval Wednesday to use cash that secures loans from funds affiliated with billionaire Carl Icahn to prevent immediate liquidation, even as a lawyer said the casino operator may shut down if it doesn't get concessions from unions.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Del., granted the company founded by Donald Trump permission to use the money to fund its bankruptcy and operations. Gross also said the company could continue paying employees and vendors and honoring customer programs.

The cash represents Trump Entertainment's "sole source of liquidity" and without access "it would result in the immediate liquidation of the company and be destructive to all stakeholders," said Erez Gilad, a lawyer for the casino operator, at Wednesday's hearing.

Trump Entertainment, which owns two properties in the struggling New Jersey resort town of Atlantic City, sought bankruptcy yesterday for the third time. The company said it will close the Trump Plaza on Sept. 16 and may have to shutter the Trump Taj Mahal by mid-November if it can't reduce expenses.

Atlantic City began with 12 casinos this year and the Taj Mahal would be the fifth to close in 2014.

The casino operator attempted to trim some of its costs by seeking concessions from its union that would have eliminated their existing pension and health-care plans.

"Without the concessions there is a significant possibility that we will be closing the Taj Mahal" on Nov. 13, said Kristopher Hansen, another lawyer for Trump Entertainment.

The union contract costs the company about $15 million a year in health, welfare and other benefits and $5 million in pension payments, and together with property taxes and debt service creates an "unsustainable cost structure," the company said in court filings.

The union was "fully aware" of the impact of failed talks, said Hansen.