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In a flip-flop from his cavalier attitude regarding his many lawsuits, Donald Trump agreed Friday to pay US$25 million to settle fraud lawsuits over his Trump University real estate seminars.
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The lawsuits had dogged Trump, who denied any wrongdoing, throughout his campaign. This led to one of the most controversial moments of his run when he claimed the judge overseeing two of the cases was biased because he was of Mexican ancestry.
The settlement was announced by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who said it followed Trump's repeated refusal "to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university."
Lawyers for Trump had argued against students, who claimed they were lured by false promises into paying up to US$35,000 to learn Trump's real estate investing "secrets" from his "hand-picked" instructors.
Three lawsuits relating to Trump University will be covered by the deal: two class actions suits in California and a New York case brought by Schneiderman. The agreement must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego.
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Trump will not admit any wrongdoing under the agreement. His attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, acknowledged Trump had previously vowed to fight the case.
"President-elect Trump has laser-focus on moving forward. It's time to move on," Petrocelli told reporters Friday.
Petrocelli also praised Judge Curiel for his hard work on the case. Trump infamously said during his election campaign that Curiel, who was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents, could not be impartial because of Trump's campaign pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to control illegal immigration.
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