New York (AFP) – President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he would pay $25 million to settle lawsuits over alleged fraud at Trump University because he is focused on leading the country, dismissing any hint of guilt.
In a sharp about-turn after years of refusing to settle, the real estate billionaire said the amount was a good deal and insisted he would have won the cases had they gone to trial.
“I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country,” he tweeted.
“The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!” he added.
A trio of suits brought by former students in New York and California alleged that the Trump training program — which was not an accredited college or university, and operated from 2005 to 2011 — fleeced students by tricking them with aggressive marketing.
Students paid as much as $35,000 to enroll, wrongly believing they would make it big in real estate after being taught by what the Manhattan mogul described as experts he had hand-picked, the suits said.
Trump’s lawyers had countered for years that many students had given the program a thumbs-up and those who failed to succeed had only themselves to blame.
But with the president-elect apparently seeking to put the thorny matter to rest as he builds his cabinet, a deal was reached.
“Today’s $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university,” New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
A spokesperson for Schneiderman’s office said the settlement covers all three class-action lawsuits against Trump University: two in California dating to 2010 and one in New York filed in 2013.
Robert Guillo, a 76-year-old New Yorker who spent nearly $40,000 on tuition alongside his son, previously told AFP that the program was an “absolute scam.”
“I learned absolutely nothing,” he said. “He fooled me for $35,000.”
– ‘Full attention’ on running country –
The agreement came just before a hearing in a San Diego federal court was about to begin deciding on Trump’s request to delay the trial.
Jason Forge, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs in the San Diego cases, hailed the settlement.
“This case has been unprecedented in so many ways,” he told AFP. “It’s only fitting that it end with an unprecedented recovery for so many people.”
The settlement proves the students had a valid case, he added.
“This man fights for what he believes in and I respect that,” Forge said, referring to Trump. “So this settlement means he believed that the students deserved a real recovery.”
He said $21 million of the settlement would go to reimburse the Trump University plaintiffs in San Diego. The remainder would reimburse plaintiffs in the New York case.
The aggrieved former students could expect their money within three to four months, Forge added.
Lead Trump attorney Daniel Petrocelli said his client had put aside his personal feelings to settle the matter.
“President-elect Trump is pleased to put this case behind him,” he told reporters in San Diego. “We think it’s a victory for everybody.”
Trump agreed to the settlement without admitting any fault or liability, Petrocelli added.
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