President-elect Donald Trump agrees to pay £20m to ‘defrauded’ students, avoiding embarrassing trial over Trump University
The Republican and real estate mogul said during the campaign: “I don't settle cases, I win in court" - but has now changed his tune
PRESIDENT-elect Donald Trump has finally agreed to pay out $25 million to settle several lawsuits against his now-defunct school for real estate investors.
The move, which still needs to be approved by a judge, will see him avert a trial in a potentially embarrassing case - despite insisting during his campaign: "I don't settle cases, I win in court".
The deal was announced by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman this afternoon.
Trump has faced allegations for three years that Trump University defrauded students who paid up to $35,000 to enroll in programs which promised to share Trump's secrets of the real estate industry.
Former students accused Trump University of misleading them by calling itself a university when it was not an accredited school.
Trump denied the allegations and repeatedly said he would not settle the case, but he has now backtracked.
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Trump said earlier this year at a rally: "I could have settled this case numerous times, but I don't want to settle cases when we're right. I don't believe in it.
"And when you start settling cases, you know what happens? Everybody sues you because you get known as a settler. One thing about me, I am not known as a settler."
The deal does not require Trump to acknowledge wrongdoing.
In a statement, Trump's attorneys said they had "no doubt" that Trump University would have prevailed in a trial, but "resolution of these matters allows President-elect Trump to devote his full attention to the important issues facing our great nation."
Trump "fought us every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university. Today, that all changes," Schneiderman said in a statement.
He called the settlement ";a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university."
All 6,000 people in the case will get at least half their money back, and some receive a full refund.
The settlement comes a day after watchdog groups and ethics experts who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations sent a letter to Trump urging him to make a clean break from his business to avoid "embroiling the presidency in litigation."
One of the authors, Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer at the White House under George W Bush, said he thinks the Trump University settlement might backfire if lawyers think Trump is eager to settle to avoid court cases while president.
"The plaintiffs' lawyers are going to smell blood in the water," he said.
Trump's attorneys said in a court filing last week that preparations for the White House were "critical and all-consuming."
Six months ago, when they unsuccessfully sought a delay until after Inauguration Day, lead attorney Daniel Petrocelli said the period between the election and swearing-in is hectic for a president-elect but that it was preferable to a trial during the campaign.
"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 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."