Trump Settles Suit Against Trump University

In an abrupt reversal, President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to a $25-million settlement to resolve three lawsuits in California and New York over Trump University.

The settlement includes $21 million for defendants in two class-action suits filed in San Diego. In court Friday, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel announced that settlements had been reached in the cases, which involved Trump’s former school for real estate investors.

Trump’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, said in court that the settlement included no admission of liability by the New York businessman.

The deal comes eight days after Trump, who had repeatedly vowed to fight the lawsuits, was elected president.

The deals were initially announced by the attorney general of New York, which had filed it own case involving Trump University.

“I am pleased that under the terms of this settlement, every victim will receive restitution and that Donald Trump will pay up to $1 million in penalties to the state of New York for violating state education laws,” Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “The victims of Trump University have waited years for today’s result, and I am pleased that their patience — and persistence — will be rewarded by this $25-million settlement.”

All the suits alleged largely the same thing — that Trump defrauded customers into thinking they would learn real estate secrets from professors selected by the businessman, but learned little and instead were mostly subject to hard-sell sales tactics urging them to spend thousands of dollars on additional classes.

The deal came on the same day that a hearing was scheduled in federal court in San Diego, where Trump’s lawyers were to argue for a delay in the Nov. 28 start of one of the trials.

“The task is momentous, exceedingly complex, and requires careful coordination involving the respective staffs and teams of both President Obama and President-elect Trump,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a court filing. “In fewer than three months, the president-elect must be prepared to manage 15 executive departments, more than 100 federal agencies, 2 million civilian employees, and a budget of almost $4 trillion.”

Last week, Curiel suggested both sides meet with U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller to see if a last-minute settlement could be worked out.

In May, Trump called Curiel “a very hostile judge” and a “hater of Donald Trump” in an 11-minute attack at a San Diego rally. Later, he said the Indiana-born judge’s Mexican heritage and membership in a Latino lawyers association posed a conflict with Trump’s positions on illegal immigration and his promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

Those comments drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, and Trump promised to stop talking about the case.

Messages left with Trump’s attorneys weren’t immediately returned. Trump has strongly denied the allegations and said during the campaign that he would not settle.

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