The company that runs Donald J. Trump’s casino properties in Atlantic City, N.J., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Camden, N.J.

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc., which operates gaming properties in New Jersey, California and Indiana, listed liabilities of $1.8 billion. Treasurer John Burke said assets were $2 billion as of Sept. 30.

To Trump, Sunday’s filing of documents to reorganize his gambling empire through bankruptcy represents a new beginning. “We’ve been working on this a long time,” said Trump, reached by phone in New York Monday.

If its plan to reorganize is approved by bankruptcy court, the company will have access to a $500 million credit line from Morgan Stanley and $100 million in interim financing from Beal Bank to overhaul Trump’s casino properties in Atlantic City and expand into other jurisdictions.

“We’ll have tremendous economic power to expand,” Trump said. “I think this is the hardest route to choose, but it certainly is the best.”

Monday’s court proceeding is the first step in Trump’s effort to recapitalize his company and whittle down its massive debt.

“The important thing is getting the recapitalization plan negotiated and teed up for what we hope is a very efficient process,” said Scott C. Butera, president and chief operating officer of Trump Hotels, who spent part of Monday at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden. “We’re very excited about what platform the company will have once the process is completed.”

This is Trump’s second attempt since August to turn around his casinos. The first ended in late September when the developer and reality-TV star halted negotiations with Credit Suisse First Boston. It is also the second trip through bankruptcy for Trump’s Atlantic City casinos. During the early `90s, Trump used bankruptcy to restructure them.

Under this latest reorganization, financing from Morgan Stanley would trim between $400 million and $500 million from its $1.8 billion in debt and allow Trump Hotels to obtain a lower interest rate of 8.5 percent, down from 12 percent, Butera said. The company expects to save about $98 million in interest payments, he said.

Bondholders would own 63 percent to 65 percent of the company. Trump’s equity stake would be reduced from 56 percent to 27 percent. He would remain chairman and chief executive officer, but Morgan Stanley would control the use of his name for the gambling operations.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Judith H. Wizmur Monday approved Trump Hotels’ request for access to cash to keep its casinos operating.

Butera said the $100 million in interim financing from Beal Bank would become immediately available to Trump Hotels to pay vendors and to spend on capital improvements, such as adding a new hotel tower for the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump’s flagship casino in Atlantic City.

Barbara J. Cappaert, an analyst with KDP Investment Advisors, said the bankruptcy filing, which had been expected, was generally positive for Trump. “We’re pretty assured that this process will go smoothly from this day forward,” she said.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission and other gambling regulators will also review Trump’s recapitalization plans.

New competition in Atlantic City, especially from the glitzy Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, has siphoned away business from Trump’s three casinos. Onerous debt payments and paltry cash flow has made it difficult for Trump to upgrade his properties.

Gambling industry executives say Pennsylvania’s approval of casino slot-machine gaming puts even more pressure on Trump, with a potential 61,000 slot machines planned for 14 venues, including sites in Philadelphia.

“For five years, the Trump properties have labored under severe financial constraints as a result of the crushing debt load,” said Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business, which tracks the industry. “Without that constraint, the Trump hotels will once again become a major player in Atlantic City.”