McMAHON

Donald Trump will soon be Ed McMahon’s landlord.

Trump announced Thursday he would save the television personality’s Beverly Hills mansion from foreclosure by buying it for an undisclosed amount and leasing it to McMahon.

The developer told the Los Angeles Times he doesn’t know McMahon personally, but acted out of compassion because helping out “would be an honor.”

McMahon, 85, who was Johnny Carson’s sidekick on the Tonight show for three decades, has not worked for about 18 months because of a neck injury. He defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with Countrywide Financial Corp.

McMahon’s spokesman, Howard Bragman, told The Associated Press that paperwork on the sale had not been completed but that McMahon was “very optimistic” the deal would go through.

“When I was at the Wharton School of Business I’d watch him every night,” Trump told the Times. “How could this happen?”

McMahon bought the six-bedroom, five-bathroom, 7,000-square-foot house in January 1990. The home was listed at $4.6 million last weekend — down from a peak price of $7 million.

•

Jackson Browne doesn’t want John McCain running on anything fueled by his lyrics.

The singer-songwriter sued McCain and the Ohio and national Republican committees on Thursday, accusing them of using his song “Running on Empty” without his permission.

The lawsuit claims the song’s use was an infringement of his copyright and will lead people to conclude he endorses McCain. The suit says Browne is a lifelong liberal well-known for for being “an advocate for social and environmental justice.”

The advertisement mocks Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s contention that if U.S. drivers got regular tuneups and drove on properly inflated tires, they could save the same amount of oil that would be gained by offshore drilling. According to the suit, “Running on Empty” plays in the background of the ad criticizing the remarks.

Robert Bennett, chairman of the Ohio party, said the ad was pulled when Browne objected. He called the lawsuit a “big to-do about nothing.”

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers disavowed the ad, saying it wasn’t a product of the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign.

Browne’s lawsuit contends the Ohio Republican party released the ad on behalf of McCain and the RNC. The RNC did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The suit notes that other musicians, including ABBA and John Cougar Mellencamp, have asked McCain to stop using their work.

Browne’s attorney, Lawrence Iser, called the ad’s use of the song “reprehensible.”

The 59-year-old singer claims his reputation has already been damaged and is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Browne released “Running on Empty” — the song and an album by the same name — in 1977. According to the lawsuit, the album has sold more than 7 million copies.

Browne’s financial success has aided Democratic candidates over the years. Campaign finance records show he contributed $2,300 to Obama’s presidential campaign last year and $2,000 to the Illinois senator’s campaign coffers in 2004.

•

A lawyer for DMX says the rapper has been arrested in Miami on a warrant for failing to attend a Phoenix court hearing.

Lawyer Charles Kozelka says DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, checked into a Miami hospital the day he was to appear in Phoenix and was planning on entering a rehab facility afterward.

Kozelka says the warrant stopped those plans, and that he had been trying to arrange for DMX to turn himself in at the airport.

A Phoenix judge issued the warrant for DMX on Tuesday after he didn’t appear for a pretrial conference on four counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and one count of possession of marijuana.

The case is one of several Simmons is facing in Phoenix, including several animal cruelty and drug possession counts.