Donald Trump shelled out $25 million on Saturday, November 19, to settle three lawsuits filed by more than 6,000 former Trump University students, NBC reports.
The suits claim Trump falsely advertised his school and left the students — who, according to The Guardian, paid as much as $35,000 for tuition — in debt. Plaintiffs say the instructors weren't selected by Trump, as promised, and that the classes did not, in fact, prepare students to become wealthy businesspeople. The students will split Trump's settlement fee and he'll also be paying up to $1 million to the state of New York.
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On the same day, Trump tweeted that the motive behind the settlement was to "focus on our country." He added that if he'd devoted his time to the case, he would've won.
I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The settlement doesn't require Trump to admit guilt and he maintains that he didn't mislead his students. In fact, he said in a presidential debate that alumni actually made "a lot of money by taking the course."
His critics say otherwise. The Guardian reports that Mitt Romney said in a speech before the primaries that Trump's "promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University."