1999
Landslide at Rancho Palos Verdes “Ocean Trails” golf course. (Owned by Bob and Ken Zuckerman, who signed a 99 year lease in 1995.) The last hole falls off a cliff.
Credit Suisse takes over the distressed Ocean Trails property. And presumably thinks Mr. Trump is an excellent credit risk.
2002
Mr. Trump’s VH Properties, buys the course and surrounding plot of land in November 2002 for $27 million. (Claimed. Is there documentation?)
Mr. Trump re-names the course after himself: Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles. Renovations begin.
2003
Mr. Trump sues the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District for $2 million. The lawsuit costs $100,000 in legal fees, equivalent to two teachers’ annual salaries. The school district is defended by attorney Milan Smith.
Trump National installs an oversize flag pole without any permit or city approval. Local authorities are unable or unwilling to address this.
2004
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District wins the lawsuit with Mr. Trump, receiving a $50,000 annual rent increase from him over the property. The district also wins a $2 million increase in the amount of the option price of the disputed land that Mr. Trump originally had offered to buy for $2 million.
The Trump Organization settles with the school district and agrees to pay the district $5 million in return for ownership of disputed land. Mr. Trump claims he ‘won’ the settlement.
2005
The golf course ‘opens’. Due to numerous planning violations, the City Council allows the course to waive local rules, then provides extension after extension for many years to keep it open. It’s a pattern.
Mr. Trump hosts a ribbon cutting ceremony (Jan 14, 2005) for homes at Trump National and calls PVPUSD’s attorney Milan Smith “an obnoxious a******.” during the event.
2006
Mr. Trump claims his golf course is worth $264 million.
RPV City Council grants the Trump Organization another extension to keep running the golf course.
Trump friend, billionaire Phil Ruffin, purchases the first home ($12.5 million) at at Trump National. News outlets report it sold in 2015.
2007
Trump National places 10 foot ficus trees to block ‘ugly’ neighbor houses.
Los Angeles Times: “In a 2007 deposition, Trump said that he — or perhaps a buyer down the road — could someday close down the golf course to “get a tremendous number of houses on the site,” which Trump said would have “a bigger value than the golf.”
Trump added that he was reluctant to sell housing lots too fast. “I want to hold them, because I think in 10 years it’s more valuable, and I think in 20 years it’s more valuable,” Trump said. “I don’t like selling land along the ocean.”
RPV City Council continues to grant rolling extensions to keep the Trump National open.
“Quite frankly, I think it benefits us to keep it open until it’s open, if that makes any sense. We get some revenues and they get some revenues … It works at its own pace.”
2008
Due to the financial crisis and economic downturn homes do not sell well.
LA County Assessor told (apparently by tax agent Wade Norwood) that Trump National Golf Course is worth $10 million when valued officially at $21.8 million. Three times in three years, the Assessor agreed to cut the course’s tax value: cutting it in half to $10.7 million. A tax cut of roughly $110,000 per year.
In December Mr. Trump files a $100 million lawsuit against the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles Superior Court. 13 actions (including violation of due process, violation of equal protection, fraud and breach of contract) are detailed. (This lawsuit is eventually settled out of court, privately four years later.)
2009
$100 Million lawsuit against RPV City moved to Federal Court in LA County.
Future RPV Mayor Brian Campbell claims that in 2009 he began work to reconcile the Trump Organization and RPV.
Mr. Trump phones Mayor Larry Clark to threaten him that Trump National should receive same tax status as neighboring Terranea resort. As soon as Terranea asked for financial help, the mayor got a phone call from another developer. It was Donald Trump, who built what he calls the world’s most expensive golf course near Terranea. “Trump said he wants the same deal or he’ll add this complaint to a $100 million lawsuit he has against us,” says Clark,
Mr. Trump finally purchases the $4-million parcel from the Palos Verdes School District.
“I am proud to support the students, teachers and families of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District community by making this very significant purchase. Unlike the Terranea development, I am not asking the people of Rancho Palos Verdes for a subsidy and, in fact, I am paying all cash. I am also pleased to announce that I will continue to support the community by providing free practice and tee times to the high schools’ golf teams and by employing students from the district at Trump National. Each of these decisions has been made with the children in mind.”
PV’s City Council dismisses a lobbyist ordinance: “The city is doing business with Terranea [Resort] and Trump National [Golf Club], who are powerful entities, yet they have no lobbyist disclosure laws,” Davidson said. “That seems rather odd … The bigger question is, Why wouldn’t the city have a lobbyist ordinance if the city of Malibu does and other cities do?”
2011
Trump allegedly gives money to City Council candidates Dora de la Rosa, Jerry Duhovic, Dave Emenheiser, David Brooks. Former Mayor Tom Long states in an email that Brian Campbell is handing out Trump money. “I have absolutely no problem taking money from Donald Trump,” says one Council member.
Like fellow candidates Dora de la Rosa, Jerry Duhovic and Dave Emenheiser, Brooks accepted a $1,000 contribution from the Trump National Golf Club – a facility that has been in the middle of contentious relations between the city and real estate mogul Donald Trump.
2012
Employees at Trump National file a labor violations lawsuit in LA County Superior Court. Trump told managers to fire restaurant hostesses who were “not pretty enough” and replace them with “more attractive women,” Hayley Strozier, former catering director at the golf club, said in her court declaration. The majority of the lawsuit was settled the following year (2013), when golf course management, without admitting any fault, agreed to pay $475,000 to employees who had complained about break policies.
Mayor Pro Tem Brian Campbell takes a more conciliatory tone towards the man who is suing his city for $100 million. “Brian Campbell added that he has worked with the organization for the past two years and has seen cooperation from what he called a “valued” business in the community.
“I know there are some long-standing issues between a few of the neighbors and the Trump organization, but I do believe a vast majority of the city supports what Trump is trying to do,” Campbell said.”
Ocean Trails Drive is renamed Trump National Drive by the new pro-Trump City Council. Mayor Anthony M. Mietsch presides over this decision. The renaming was proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Brian Campbell during the Aug. 21 council meeting and was co-sponsored by Mayor Anthony Misetich. Also approving is future Mayor Jerry Duhovic. Lone dissenting vote is Jim Knight.
Mr. Trump’s $100 million lawsuit against RPV is settled confidentially. (What are the terms? Why is it secret?)
2013
August: Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes settles $475K worth of employment claims by nearly 1,000 current and golf course employees at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.
2014
The California Coastal Commission approves the oversized Trump National flagpole if Rancho Palos Verdes revises its municipal height rules.
Terranea Resort announces a new partnership with Trump National (Teranea is later implicated in human trafficking and notes on this partnership are scrubbed from the Teranea web site.)
2015
Trump organization grants n 11.5-acre conservation easement on the golf course’s driving range to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, and values it extremely high ($25 million) to claim a tax break. “Enjoy it for infinity, I guess.”
Los Angeles Times: “revenue from golf fees has dropped nearly 25% between 2007 and 2015.”
June 16, 2015: Mr. Trump announces his Presidential Candidacy.
Due to an increasing degree of political controversy, the Los Angeles Unified School District cancels a fundraiser at Trump National course, but the Trump Organization keeps the $7500 deposit.
The California Coastal Commission halts waterfall work at Trump National Golf Club because (once again) it failed to get the relevant permits.
Phil Ruffin reportedly sells his Trump home for $6.68 million.
2016
Presidential financial disclosure claims the RPV golf course brought in $15.6 million in golf-related revenue from January 2015 to May 2016.
2017
Following Mr. Trump’s accession to the presidency, his homes in Rancho Palos Verdes have their biggest sales year yet. (Coincidence? Who’s buying?)
Mayor Brian Campbell travels to Washington DC to observe the inauguration.
Protesters deface greens while taking video at Trump National.
Once Mr. Trump entered the presidential race in June 2015, revenue from greens fees at the club dropped by 13 percent, according to figures from RPV’s city government.
National Public Radio investigates Trump National’s charitable donations: they were able to confirm only about $800,000 in donations, less than one-fifth of what was claimed.
A dozen new homes and a new street are proposed for Trump’s housing development.
2018
Mayor Jerry Duhovic holds City Council ‘Mayor’s Breakfast’ regularly at Trump National Golf Course.
A Trump.Org lawyer with an office located at Trump National Golf Course is revealed as having paid off Stormy Daniels.
In a battle with the city, former Mayor and Trump Organization advocate Brian Campbell refuses to share messages on city business sent from his personal email. Something to hide? The recovery effort costs the city over $130,000.
Trump National staff photographed using a rifle to shoot at gophers, without a permit. They claim it is a ‘pellet gun’.
In September, the five-member city council approved an amended development agreement between Trump’s company and the city, allowing them to advance plans for new lots.
2019
The Trump Organization owes $36,200 in late property taxes to Los Angeles County, on two parcels of land that will be divided up into lots. (Possibly as much as 23 homes.) An article in the Washington Post spots this on a government web site which declares taxes delinquent on December 10th 2018. After the Post noted the late payment, the Trump Organization paid off the taxes and late fees and immediately criticized the newspaper.
Nine undeveloped lots are alleged to have been sold since Trump’s inauguration. Possibly more?
Mr. Trump and a number of staff / associates / cronies visit Trump National Los Angeles for dinner, and meet the City Council, who pose ‘thumbs up’ with the President.
November: local elections. Ballot Measure ‘B’ (panic buttons) is defeated after support by all running City Council candidates. There is of course no history of sexual harrassment ever in Terranea’s or Trump National’s history.
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