Standing on a golf course less than a mile from the landslide zone in Rancho Palos Verdes, where hundreds of homes have lost gas and power, former President Trump said Friday that his property was “very strong” and called on the government to help the beleaguered city.
“This is a very wealthy area, but it’s also home to elderly people, people on fixed incomes, people whose homes would sink into the Pacific Ocean if something wasn’t done,” the former president said.
Trump spoke to reporters at a campaign news conference at Trump National Golf Club on the Los Angeles waterfront, which he bought from a bankrupt developer in 2002.
The landslide-prone city was put on alert by Gov. Gavin Newsom this month due to rapid ground movement caused by continuous rains. Areas near the golf course were put on alert by the city after about 9 to 12 inches of ground shifting.
Before launching into a lengthy speech from an outdoor podium, where the morning fog had cleared to reveal the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island behind him, Trump invited Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor John Cruickshank to speak.
“Obviously, I’m a little nervous. This is a big deal,” Cruickshank said, holding a red hat that read “Make America Great Again.”
Cruickshank told The New York Times on Thursday that he had been trying to get onto the Republican presidential candidate’s schedule for several days and had hoped to speak with Trump about his landslide victory before the press conference, but was not planning on doing so.
Cruickshank took to the podium to appeal for help for the city of 40,000 people.
“We believe we can solve this problem, but we really need help from the state of California and the federal government,” he said. “We have the solutions, but the problem is bigger than the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.”
Trump has been aggressively pursuing long-held plans to build up to 23 homes on the land, but has struggled for years to gain city approval for the development, largely due to instability in the area.
The original owner of the property, then called Ocean Trails Golf Club, went bankrupt after a landslide in 1999 caused the 18th hole to collapse into the Pacific Ocean while the course was still under construction. Trump bought the property in 2002 for $27 million.
Trump mentioned the club on Friday in his attack on San Francisco leaders, saying they have allowed the city to decline, and compared the cost of his own club to a notorious one that opened in the city this year.
“They spent $1.7 million to build these toilets and they were no good at all. I’ve seen the pictures. I built all these toilets for less than that,” he said, making a light remark about his property.
As for the landslides, Trump said they were “manageable.”
“This area is very solid,” he said of his land, “but if you go a few miles down you see something pretty amazing. The mountains are moving and we can stop it, but we need the government’s help. So I hope they get help.”
Trump did not specify whether he was referring to state or federal governments.
City officials said the golf club is about a half-mile away from the area where the landslides are occurring.
Trump has repeatedly praised his club, saying it doesn’t need advertising because it’s “always full of golfers” and “one of the best courses in the world.”
He added, “I have the ocean. Pebble Beach has the bay. The ocean is better than the bay.”
