Pages from Trump University playbooks show aggressive sales techniques

Donald Trump. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Documents serving as evidence in a class-action lawsuit against Trump University show instructors were told how to bring in customers, convince them to spend more money on additional classes, and counter objections they might have.

Close to 400 pages out of Trump University playbooks were ordered released last week by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, after a request by The Washington Post. The now-defunct real estate school was created by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and his attorneys objected to the move, saying the documents contain trade secrets. The pages reveal that instructors were given detailed directives on everything from how to run an event to how to dress, CNN reports. Students filled out profiles, which included listing their assets, and instructors were told to sort through those profiles and separate those with liquid assets over $35,000 from those with less than $2,000.

The playbooks also directed instructors to push the Gold Elite package on students ("if they can afford Gold Elite, don't allow them to think about doing anything besides the Gold Elite"), which came with a $34,995 price tag, and if students voiced concerns, instructors were given retorts — for instance, if a student said he didn't want to go into debt by using credit cards, he was asked: "Do you like living paycheck to paycheck? Do you enjoy seeing everyone else but yourself in their dream houses and driving their dream cars with huge checking accounts? Those people saw an opportunity, and didn't make excuses, like what you're doing now." Read more about the playbooks at CNN.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.