Trump Settled Those Trump University Lawsuits After All

The president elect will pay $25M total in 3 lawsuits
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 18, 2016 1:58 PM CST
Updated Nov 18, 2016 3:37 PM CST
Trump Close to Settling Trump University Lawsuits
Donald Trump is settling his Trump University lawsuits, something he said he would never do.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Donald Trump has agreed to settle three lawsuits related to Trump University for $25 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. An inside source tells the New York Daily News it represents a "complete 180 by Trump." "I won't settle because it's an easy case to win in court," Politico quotes Donald Trump as saying during the campaign. Regardless, Trump is settling the lawsuits—two class-action suits in California and one brought by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman—for $25 million. Some of the money will go toward legal fees, but most will end up in the hands of former Trump University students.

Trump University students were promised "secrets" of real-estate investment from Trump's "hand-picked" instructors, Reuters reports. But Trump later admitted to not picking the instructors, and many of the "secrets" appeared to be straight from Trump's books, available for free at the local library. Students paid up to $35,000 for courses. Schneiderman calls Trump University a "fraud from beginning to end." A California judge—the same judge Trump said couldn't be impartial because his parents were from Mexico—had urged both sides to settle. Trump's team became more open to the idea with the first trial scheduled to start at the end of the month. As part of the settlement, Trump reportedly won't admit to any wrongdoing. (More Trump University stories.)

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