Trump buying Ed McMahon's house

Los Angeles -- Real estate mogul Donald Trump reportedly is buying television personality Ed McMahon's Beverly Hills, Calif., house to save it from foreclosure.

The Los Angeles Times said Trump is purchasing McMahon's six-bedroom home, where the famous TV host and sidekick has lived for the last 18 years, for an undisclosed amount.

McMahon, 85, will be allowed to keep living there, as Trump plans to lease the home back to him, the report said.

McMahon defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with Countrywide Financial Corp. and faced foreclosure in two weeks if a new buyer wasn't found.

Trump told The Times it "would be an honor" to help McMahon out.

"I don't know the man, but I grew up watching him on TV," Trump told the newspaper. "When I was at the Wharton School of Business, I'd watch him every night. How could this happen?"

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.