Billionaire real estate mogul and the Grove developer Rick Caruso has lifted a ban he placed on President-elect Donald Trump this past October.
Asked if he would lift the ban, in an interview with TMZ, Caruso said, “You know, listen — you always give people a second chance, right? And so I’m hoping that he’s going to be a great president. I think it’s time. Everybody’s got to lean in. He won.”
TMZ pointed out that Trump’s rhetoric has become more “unifying” and asked if Caruso also noticed that, to which he replied, “I don’t know. I’m not really sort of doing that. But, uh, I’m just hopeful for the country.” He went on to say: “Whether Hillary won or Trump won, everybody’s got to support your president.”
Asked again by TMZ if Trump is welcome at he Grove, Caruso replied, “everybody’s welcome at the Grove.”
Caruso had originally “banned” Trump from The Grove on October 10, which also happened to coincide with Columbus Day.
The suggestion for the ban on Trump also originated from a TMZ reporter who asked Caruso whether he would consider banning him from the property over comments he made relating to women. “I would actually be happy to do that,” Caruso said. “That would probably be a good thing to do.”
Caruso has banned other stars from the Grove in the past, including Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao this past March over comments he made about gay people.
It was the second time Pacquaio was barred from The Grove. The first time was in 2012, when the official Grove Twitter account announced that the boxer was “not welcome” there after he quoted a Bible verse about homosexuality in an interview. However, it was later discovered that Pacquiao was misquoted in the interview, and the ban was later lifted.
The current ban appears still to be active.
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