Born and raised in New York, Donald Trump’s ties with the state run deep.
The GOP politician famously grew up in Queens and even attended New York’s Fordham University for two years.
But in 1966, at age 20, he transferred to Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance.
This marked the beginning of Donald’s professional real estate career.
But Donald had big dreams he wanted to take the company to new heights.
However, unknown to him, he was being investigated by New York City’s Human Rights Division.
This led to one of theTrump family’s biggest lawsuitsthat dragged on until the government offered a settlement.
But Donald soon spent it all on failed ventures and had to borrow even more.
And in several cases, Donald wasn’t even responsible for paying the interest.
For context, that $60.7 million is about $140 million today.
Donald would eventually file for bankruptcy at least four times between 1991 and 2009.
Based in New York, the “university” offered its first seminar at no charge.
Attending earned you a spot in a three-day seminar this time for $1,500.
These programs promised access to an instructor directly chosen by Trump to guide you on your real estate journey.
If this sounds like a Ponzi scheme, you’re not too far off.
Although attendees weren’t paid to recruit others, they were vigorously marketed to.
The red flags wouldn’t have been entirely damning if Trump University had delivered on its promises.
Spoiler alert: it didn’t.
Over 6,000 students joined a lawsuit against the institution.
One of these lawsuits resulted in quite a controversy for him and his legal team.
The article exposed that Donald had paid only $1,500 in taxes between 2016 and 2017.
It also revealed his questionable deductions, tax strategies, and generally sketchy financial dealings.
