The last anyone heard of Trump University was that victims of the scam received a settlement totalling US$25 million in February 2018.
But if the sentence above means nothing to you, we’re here to give you the breakdown.
This is everything you’ll want to know about Trump University, the educational scandal it was, and a possible revival of the supposedly defunct university on the horizon.
To answer your first question, Trump did not teach at Trump University. Source: AFP
Welcome to Trump University
Launched in 2005, Donald Trump’s Trump University bore the promise of helping students gain real estate skills and knowledge – things that Trump was an expert in due to his family’s real estate business.
“In today’s hyper-competitive business climate, the need for the highest-quality education has become more crucial than ever,” said Trump. “But people are looking beyond the traditional business education model, which involves hours in the classroom and relies primarily on book learning.”
Basically, Trump University would teach via online courses, information-rich CDs, consulting services and quick, intensive classes for students, referred to as “customers.”
With all that said, it’s important to take note that Trump University isn’t actually a university.
No degrees or grades were to be expected from attending the lessons, which often happened as three- and five-day seminars that were referred to as “retreats.” It was at those seminars that students faced some high-pressure tactics to sign up for the university’s “packages” too.
According to Trump University’s 2010 playbook, students can have a taste of what Trump University has to offer, beginning with a free 90-minute seminar called “Profit From Real Estate: Orientation.”
This is followed by a three-day “Profit From Real Estate: Workshop” that costs US$1,495, and is wrapped up with “Trump Elite Packages” filled with various retreats like the Wealth Preservation Retreat and three-day in-person field coaching, and costs between US$9,995 and 34,995.
So, calling Trump University a university was a bit of a scam – a “massive” one, as written by American conservative editorial magazine National Review.
If a university doesn’t give out grades or degrees, can it still be considered a university? Source: Pexels
Trump University’s downfall
Trump University operated from 2005 to 2011, facing many lawsuits and investigations in between.
The New York State Department of Education filed a civil suit against Trump University, alleging illegal business practices and false claims made by the company, such as using the word “university” in its operations.
The office of the Attorney General of Texas investigated Trump University after the state’s consumer protection division discovered that it was “engaging in false, misleading, and deceptive practices.”
Many of the so-called students of Trump University filed their own lawsuits through the federal courts too.
In the end, Trump University had to close its doors; a New York judge found Trump personally liable for operating the company without the required business license, the Texas investigation was dropped, and the students are getting a combined US$25 million settlement for their woes.
But that’s not the end of this story, because now in 2025, there’s buzz about Trump University’s revival…in Greenland.
Greenland’s capital of Nuuk might be seeing more traffic if Trump University sets up shop on its shores. Source: AFP
Trump University: Greenland edition
Leaked messages have revealed that the Trump administration has set its sights on building a multimillion-dollar Trump University campus in Nuuk, Greenland.
Nuuk is the capital of the sparsely populated island less than 1,500 miles from the northern tip of Maine. It already has a university — the University of Greenland — that offers courses in Danish and Greenlandic. There’s even an English course in “Business Economics.”
“The Trump brand is hotter than ever – our base can’t get enough of our memecoin, perfume, and Trump steaks so higher education is the next logical move,” said one high-ranking US Department of Education official in the group chat which consisted of several high-level White House officials, including US Vice President J.D. Vance and education secretary Linda McMahon.
But why Greenland?
Well, according to someone who works under Vance, “The woke mob running US colleges can never be trusted to uphold free speech, nor can the Musk-hating never-Trumpers in freeloading Europe. Greenland is our only option.”
The last piece of news that the group chat leaked? Nineteen-year-old Barron Trump, Donald Trump’s fifth and youngest child, is rumoured to lead the institution.
