Tag: Trump University

Spin, deride, attack: How Trump’s handling of Trump University presaged his presidency

Washington Post logoThe judge was out to get him, he said. So was that prosecutor in New York, whom he called a dopey loser on a witch hunt. So were his critics, who he said were all liars. Even some of his own underlings had failed him — bad people, it turned out. He said he didn’t know them.

Donald Trump was in trouble.

Now, he was trying to attack his way out, breaking all the unwritten rules about the way a man of his position should behave. The secret to his tactic: “I don’t care” about breaking the rules, Trump said at a news conference. “Why antagonize? Because I don’t care.”

That was 2016. He was talking about a real estate school called Trump University. Continue reading.

‘Bizarro world’: Trump baffles the internet by sending Pam Bondi to defend him — after she gave a pass to his fake university

AlterNet logoFormer Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, possibly best-known for refusing to join a fraud investigation into Trump University that ultimately led to the President of the United States forking over $25 million, is right now defending President Trump on national TV during the Senate impeachment trial.

As many on social media noted, Bondi refused to join that investigation that led to a $25 million payment from the president, but was only too happy to accept a $25,000 donation from Donald Trump for her re-election campaign, just as she was deciding on whether or not to investigate him.

Bondi rocketed to the number two trending item on Twitter within minutes of speaking. Continue reading.

Trump University: A Look at an Enduring Education Scandal

The following article by Ulrich Boser, Danny Schwaber and Stephanie Johnson was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 30, 2017:

When Donald Trump first launched Trump University in 2005, he said that the program’s aim was altruistic. Coming off his success as a reality television show host, Trump claimed that the Trump University program was devoted to helping people gain real estate skills and knowledge. At the Trump University launch event, Trump told reporters that he hoped to create a “legacy as an educator” by “imparting lots of knowledge” through his program.1

Today, it’s clear that Trump University was far from charitable. In fact, Trump University’s real estate seminars often didn’t provide that much education; at some seminars, it seemed like the instructors aimed to do little more than bilk money from people who dreamed of successful real estate careers. As one person who attended the program wrote on a feedback form examined by the authors, “Requesting we raise our credit limits on our credit cards at lunch Friday seemed a little transparent.”2 Continue reading “Trump University: A Look at an Enduring Education Scandal”