Trump Loses Ficus Fight
Donald Trump's ficus trees have been fired.
The city council in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, voted unanimously Tuesday to force the Apprentice honcho to uproot a 10-foot-high hedge composed of hundreds of ficus trees he had planted earlier this year at his Trump National Golf Club without permission from the city.
Trump said he had the trees installed to shield the club's driving range from views of "unsightly" neighboring homes. However, residents of some of those homes complained that the foliage blocked their enviable ocean views, leading the city council to take action.
The council is slated to take the final step of finding the hedge in violation of the property's permit on Dec. 18, after which time Trump will have three weeks to remove the plantings.
The real estate mogul said he would be relocating the ficus trees to another one of his properties, but expressed his displeasure with the city's ruling.
"The city council should be ashamed of its decision," Trump told the Torrance Daily Breeze. "It's very sad that the town is willing to destroy this beautiful hedge. There's no plant as beautiful as the ficus, and no plant that does the trick like the ficus."
Mayor Doug Stern disagreed with Trump's rave review of the ficus, indicating that as far as he was concerned, the sooner the trees were gone, the better.
"I wish they could be out by Christmas, that would make a great Christmas present," Stern said.
Trump said he did not know what he would plant, if anything, to replace the banned trees.
The combovered executive is currently readying himself for the launch of Celebrity Apprentice, the latest edition of his boardroom blitz, featuring such pseudo-household names as Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore, Stephen Baldwin and original Apprentice mean girl Omarosa.
The new season premieres Jan. 3.
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