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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Former President Donald Trump agreed after his 2016 election to pay $25 million, including $21 million to reimburse students, to settle three lawsuits alleging fraud by his for-profit Trump University.

Trump did not admit to wrongdoing in the two California class-action lawsuits and a suit brought by New York’s attorney general.

“Each suit alleged that Trump University used false advertising to lure prospective students to free investor workshops at which they were sold expensive three-day educational seminars,” according to an appeals court ruling. “At these seminars, instead of receiving the promised training, attendees were aggressively encouraged to invest tens of thousands of dollars more in a so-called mentorship program that included resources, real estate guidance and a host of other benefits, none of which ever materialized.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, at a campaign rally July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wisconsin, claimed that Trump’s college “scammed” students.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

NPR: Judge Approves $25 Million Settlement Of Trump University Lawsuit

Fox Business: $25M deal over Trump University fraud lawsuits moves forward

U.S. Court of Appeals: Opinion

Kamala Harris: Campaign Event in Wisconsin with Vice President Kamala Harris

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Did Donald Trump pay millions of dollars to settle fraud lawsuits against his for-profit college?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
July 24, 2024

<h1>Did Donald Trump pay millions of dollars to settle fraud lawsuits against his for-profit college?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />July 24, 2024</p>

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<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Yes.</h2>
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<p>Former President Donald Trump agreed after his 2016 election to pay $25 million, including $21 million to reimburse students, to&nbsp;settle&nbsp;three lawsuits alleging fraud by his for-profit Trump University.</p>
<p>Trump&nbsp;did not&nbsp;admit to wrongdoing in the two California class-action lawsuits and a suit brought by New York’s attorney general.</p>
<p>“Each suit alleged that Trump University used false advertising to lure prospective students to free investor workshops at which they were sold expensive three-day educational seminars,” according to an appeals court&nbsp;ruling. “At these seminars, instead of receiving the promised training, attendees were aggressively encouraged to invest tens of thousands of dollars more in a so-called mentorship program that included resources, real estate guidance and a host of other benefits, none of which ever materialized.”</p>
<p>Vice President Kamala Harris, at a campaign rally July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wisconsin, claimed that Trump’s college “scammed” students. </p>
<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ONEjjfafk&amp;t=2136s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this one</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p>NPR: <a href="https://archive.is/dVsTl" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Judge Approves $25 Million Settlement Of Trump University Lawsuit</a></p>
<p>Fox Business: <a href="https://archive.is/wip/YXWI5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$25M deal over Trump University fraud lawsuits moves forward</a></p>
<p>U.S. Court of Appeals: <a href="https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/02/06/17-55635.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Opinion</a></p>
<p>Kamala Harris: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ONEjjfafk&amp;t=2136s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Campaign Event in Wisconsin with Vice President Kamala Harris</a></p>
</p></div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/07/trump-kamala-harris-scam-wisconsin-university-students-college-lawsuit/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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Did Donald Trump pay millions of dollars to settle fraud lawsuits against his for-profit college?

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