KEY POINTS:
Donald Trump, billionaire property magnate and orange-haired icon of capitalist success, has gone to war against a little Californian town that he says is undermining the "Trump image".
He has launched a lawsuit demanding Rancho Palos Verdes, on a beautiful Pacific coast peninsula, compensate him to the tune of US$100 million ($173 million), five times the town's annual budget, in a dispute over a hyper-luxurious golf course he developed there in 2002.
The local authority is defrauding him and breaching his civil rights, his lawsuit claims.
What has the town done to earn the tycoon's wrath? According to local residents and court documents, officials have refused to rename a local highway Trump National Drive, and forced him to cut down a row of 3.6m trees he had planted to block views of low-cost housing from the course.
Now they are holding up plans for 20 luxury homes in the golf club grounds, demanding tough environmental and safety studies because of landslides in the area.
A frustrated Trump told the Los Angeles Times that he had been "looking forward" to suing Palos Verdes for a long time. "The town does everything possible to stymie everything I do," he said.
His lawsuit alleges that the town is forcing him to spend "millions of dollars on unnecessary, repetitive, unreasonable and unlawful geologic surveys" while knowing that the cliff-top property is safe - something Trump thinks they are doing so that they can pocket more fees from him.
Instead of constantly changing the rules, as he alleges, they should be grateful he came to the area in the first place. "I took a piece of land lying fallow, tied up in courts for years, and created the number one course in California."
Trump's company, VH Property, bought the 120ha parcel of land, half an hour south of Los Angeles, in 2002. His 4180sq m clubhouse has attracted professional golfers with "stately locker rooms", businessmen with "secluded conference rooms" and celebrities with facilities including a "magnificent grand ballroom". Homes within the grounds sell for US$12 million apiece.
But Trump's relations with the locals have been less than serene almost since his arrival, when he originally charmed them at town hall meetings and business breakfasts. Wags dubbed his plan to rename Ocean Trails Drive as "Narcissism Lane".
Tom Long, a councillor, said the suit was a "betrayal" of agreements. "This is a sad day for the city but an even sadder one for Donald Trump who has sullied what good remains in his name and endangered his legacy."
Residents said they were angry Trump was bullying them and the local authority. "He just feels rules aren't made for him," Jo Ann Michetti, a retired liability investigator, told the Los Angeles Times. "He expects them to say he can do it because he's Donald Trump."
- INDEPENDENT
