Trump University: Defrauding Thousands of Students Through a Fraudulent 'Education' Scheme

Overview

Trump University was not a university. It had no accreditation, issued no degrees, and was not legally permitted to use the word "university" in New York — where its parent company was incorporated. It operated from 2005 to 2010 as a series of live events (seminars) and online courses, marketed aggressively through infomercials, direct mail, and online advertising, with Trump's face and name as the primary selling point.

The pitch was consistent: Trump had secrets to success in real estate, and he had personally selected the best instructors to teach them. In practice, the courses were designed as a sales funnel. The initial free "preview" seminar pitched a $1,500 three-day course. The three-day course pitched a $35,000 "Elite Mentorship" program. At each stage, instructors were trained to identify and exploit personal vulnerabilities — divorce, job loss, financial desperation — to maximize upsells.

The Sales Playbook

Internal "playbooks" obtained through litigation showed that Trump University trained sales staff to:

• Identify vulnerable attendees ("find the pain")
• Encourage attendees to max out credit cards ("if they say they have only $3,000 on their credit card, encourage them to put $1,500 on there")
• Target couples separately and exploit spousal disagreements
• Apply social pressure by having supervisors close difficult sales

Despite charging up to $35,000 for mentorship programs, instructors had no special credentials. One instructor described by Trump in marketing materials as his handpicked real estate expert turned out to have no significant real estate experience.

Legal Outcomes

Three lawsuits — two class actions in California and the New York AG civil suit — alleged systematic fraud. In November 2016, weeks after winning the presidential election, Trump settled all three for $25 million without admitting wrongdoing, despite having repeatedly pledged publicly to never settle and to "win" the case. Former students received partial refunds averaging $4,000 on courses that cost up to $35,000.

During the litigation, Trump publicly attacked federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel as biased, claiming he couldn't be fair because he was "of Mexican heritage" — statements widely condemned as racist and described by House Speaker Paul Ryan as "the textbook definition of a racist comment."