Miss USA Tara Conner is a "good person" with a "good heart", Donald Trump said as he decided to let Conner keep her title after she agreed to enter rehab and undergo drug testing.

"I've always been a believer in second chances," said Trump, who owns the Miss Universe Organization and the Miss USA pageant with NBC. "Tara is going to be given a second chance."

Tara Conner, 21, who comes from the small town of Russell Springs, Ky., won the title in April and moved to New York. She has since partied hard, admitting she frequented clubs and threw back drinks, despite being underage. Tara Conner turned 21 this Monday.

"She was telling me that she got caught up in the whirlwind of New York," Trump said at the news conference. "It's a story that has happened many times before to many women and to many men who came to the Big Apple. They wanted their slice of the Big Apple, and they found out it wasn't so easy."

Miss USA must conduct herself as a role model, and behavior such as underage drinking is prohibited, a Miss Universe Organization spokeswoman said.

Trump said Conner would be entering a rehab over the coming weeks.

Asked if she was an alcoholic, Conner said: "I wouldn't say that I'm alcoholic."

"My personal demons are my personal demons," she added.