Donald Trump's main defense of Trump University, in the face of several fraud lawsuits and campaign attacks, has been the positive, "beautiful" reviews former students gave his real estate courses. Those reviews, it seems, appear to have always been "a central component of a business model that, according to lawsuits and investigators, deceived consumers into handing over thousands of dollars with tantalizing promises of riches," The New York Times reports, citing "hundreds of pages of legal documents, as well as interviews with former students and instructors." And, many former students and instructors say, the glowing reviews were coerced.
Instructors say their income depended on getting high reviews, and, in an usual arrangement for academic courses, students filled out the evaluation forms in front of instructors and were not told they could leave off their names. "I think it's much better when a student puts their name on it," Trump said in a January deposition. Otherwise, "they don't mean anything, actually." Many of the students were supposed to continue working and getting guidance from the instructors and mentors after turning in their signed evaluations, and according to documents made public during litigation, the students were asked to turn in evaluations to get their graduation certificates.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest ManIn the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliationTalking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
-
Crossword: November 2, 2024The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
North Korea tests ICBM, readies troops in UkraineSpeed Read Thousands of North Korean troops are likely to join Russian action against Ukraine
-
Women take center stage in campaign finaleSpeed Read Harris and Trump are trading gender attacks in the final days before the election
-
US election: who the billionaires are backingThe Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
-
Supreme Court allows purge of Virginia voter rollsSpeed Read Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is purging some 1,600 people from state voter rolls days before the election
-
'Empowered' Steve Bannon released from prisonSpeed Read Bannon was set free a week before Election Day and quickly returned to his right-wing podcast to promote Trump
-
Canada accuses top Modi ally of directing Sikh attacksSpeed Read Indian Home Minister Amit Shah was allegedly behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists
-
Harris makes closing case in huge rally at DC's EllipseSpeed Read The Democratic nominee asked voters to "turn the page" on Trump's "division" and "chaos"
-
'I am not a Nazi,' Trump says amid MSG rally falloutSpeed Read Trump and his campaign are attempting to stem the fallout from comments made by speakers at Sunday's rally
