Judge OKs $25 million Trump University settlement

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge on Friday approved an agreement for President Trump to pay $25 million to settle lawsuits over his nowdefunct Trump University, ending nearly seven years of legal battles with customers who said they were misled by failed promises to teach success in real estate.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s ruling settles two class-action lawsuits and a civil lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Trump had pledged never to settle but said after the election that he didn’t have time for a trial, even though he believed he would have prevailed. Under terms of the settlement, he admits no wrongdoing.

The lawsuits alleged that Trump University gave nationwide seminars that were like infomercials, constantly pressuring people to spend more and, in the end, failing to deliver.

Attorneys for former customers have said their clients will get at least 90 percent of their money back, based on the roughly 3,730 claims submitted.

Trump University dogged the Republican businessman throughout the campaign as rivals used Trump’s depositions and extensive documents filed in the lawsuits to portray him as dishonest and deceitful.

Trump brought more attention by repeatedly assailing Curiel, insinuating that the Indiana-born judge’s Mexican heritage exposed a bias.

The judge rejected requests by two former students who objected to the settlement, scuttling the possibility of derailing the agreement with the prospect of more litigation.

Sherri Simpson, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attorney, said she and a partner paid $35,000 in 2010 to enroll in Trump University’s “Gold Elite” program to be paired with a mentor who would teach them Trump’s secret real estate investment strategies.

Simpson, who appeared in two anti-Trump campaign ads, said they got little for their money — the videos were 5 years old, the materials covered information that could be found free on the internet and her mentor didn’t return calls or emails.

Simpson argued that she should have been given more opportunity to opt out of the settlement. Attorneys for Trump and those suing him say the deadline to opt out was in November 2015 and that she missed her chance.