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Yes.

A settlement to a federal lawsuit filed against Donald Trump required him not to discriminate in housing.

The U.S. Justice Department sued Trump in 1973, alleging that Trump and his company discriminated against Black people who tried to rent his thousands of New York City apartments.

Trump denied the allegations and admitted no liability.

Under the settlement, Trump was permanently prohibited from refusing to rent to people based on race, including falsely telling racial minority applicants that apartments weren’t available. He was ordered to send weekly apartment vacancy notices to the New York Urban League and to advertise to nonwhite communities that his apartments were “equal opportunity housing.”

The Justice Department called the settlement “one of the most far-reaching ever negotiated.”

Two speakers Aug. 22, 2024, at the Democratic National Convention, National Urban League President Marc Morial and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, referenced the lawsuit.

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

Sources

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse: Consent order

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse: United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump, and Trump Management, Inc. 1:73-01529 (E.D.N.Y.)

NPR: Decades-Old Housing Discrimination Case Plagues Donald Trump

PBS NewsHour: Marc Morial at 2024 Democratic National Convention

PBS NewsHour: WATCH: Former HUD secretary Marcia Fudge speaks at 2024 Democratic National Convention

Washington Post: Inside the government’s racial bias case against Donald Trump’s company, and how he fought it

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Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.