NEW YORK - Everyone expected Donald Trump to utter his catchphrase "You're fired!" to Miss USA on Tuesday but instead the billionaire gave the beauty queen a second chance after reports of misbehavior including underage drinking.

In a nationally televised news conference full of tears fit for a pageant finale, the co-owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe contests said Tara Conner has agreed to go into a rehabilitation program for an unspecified problem and would not be stripped of the title of Miss USA 2006.

Media reports of the blond beauty queen partying at bars and nightclubs in New York -- where the legal drinking age is 21 -- began surfacing last week. The former Miss Kentucky USA turned 21 on Monday.

"Tara is going to be given a second chance," the real estate mogul said after meeting with Conner earlier on Tuesday. "Tara got caught up in the whirlwind of New York.

"She made some very, very bad choices," he said. "She admits that she made mistakes."

In a statement after the news conference, Trump said Conner's duties would be "limited as she receives the help she needs during this personal time."

Conner tearfully told reporters at the news conference that she realizes she is a role model and denied reports of widespread problems with alcohol and drugs.