Trump floats idea for ‘American Academy’ years after his Trump University ‘sham’ cost him $25m

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Despite agreeing to a $25m settlement after the New York Attorney General accused Trump University of deception and fraud, former President Donald Trump has floated a plan to launch a new institution: American Academy. Under the plan I’m announcing today we will take the billions and billions of dollars that we will collect by taxing, fining, and suing excessively large university endowments.” That money in turn would be used to endow a new institution called the American Academy, Mr Trump explained. The New York Attorney General said at the time “this settlement marked a stunning reversal by President Trump, who for years refused to compensate the victims of his sham university. My office won’t hesitate to hold those who commit fraud accountable, no matter how rich or powerful they may be.” The announcement of the new institution arrives as the former president not only is running for re-election, but also facing a series of legal battles, at both federal and state levels, including a fraud trial in New York, in which the attorney general has accused him of inflating his net worth by as much as $2.2bn.