TRUMP SETTLES VARSITY SUITS FOR $25 MILLION

NEWYORK: Donald Trump on Friday agreed to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits that accused his now-defunct Trump University of fraud, sparing him the embarrassment of further legal wrangling as he prepares to enter the White House.

A trio of suits brought by former students alleged that the training programme — which was not an accredited college or university, but was in operation from 2005 to 2011 — fleeced students by tricking them with aggressive marketing.

Students paid as much as $35,000 to enrol, believing they would make it big in real estate after being taught by the Manhattan mogul’s hand-picked experts, said the suits brought in New York and California. Trump’s lawyers had countered that many students had given the programme a thumbs-up and those who failed to succeed had only themselves to blame. AP