By Gyles Sonier
I’ve been a part of a “get rich quick” scheme before. I’ve been a fool for capitalism. As a classic romantic, I fall hard for the opportunity of a lifetime, especially when someone drives home just how lucky you are to have been chosen for this mission, this family of success stories. Around every corner in the United States, companies sell the secret of success. Usually they are kept secret, even though there isn’t any viable evidence that the company is any other than a marketing tactic to build self-esteem and create loyalty to a shallow goal of making someone else rich. I’ve paid a lot for my empty investments, and so have the students who are suing Trump University for their fraudulent practices in the name of education.
The American dream is the fuel that drives the vehicle of financial success, though Trump University is using it’s participants to prop up the people running the scheme in the first place. It turned into an American nightmare for those currently suing Trump U. Just look to the story of Falicisimo Limon, who is in over $26,000 of debt for believing he would become a successful real estate mogul. Or we could talk to hopeful Texan, Louie Liu, who was persuaded to spend “$1,495 for a three-day seminar, then felt lured into paying $24,995 for more classes, an online training program and a three-day in-person mentorship.” We could also talk to Bob Guillo, “[who] paid nearly $35,000 for the “Trump Gold Elite package,” which amounted to very little. “I really felt stupid that I was scammed by Trump,” Guillo said. “He’s the biggest phony in the world, yet people as gullible as me think he’s the greatest guy in the world,” Guillo told the Washington Post. “When I watch him on TV, I’m really impressed. I think, ‘How can people believe in him?’ And I think, ‘Well, Bob, you believed in him in 2009. You gave him $35,000.’”
According to CNN Money, U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel ordered the Trump University “playbook” to be released to the public, stating “the documents are evidence in a California class action suit — Art Cohen v. Donald J. Trump — that alleges the now-defunct Trump University failed to deliver on its promises to provide a premier real estate education with instructors “hand-picked” by Trump. The suit also alleges that the University would “upsell” students from one seminar to more expensive ones…” and not to mention, it isn’t truly an accredited university.
The Washington Post goes on to describe the seminar that promised educational and financial success.
“Never licensed as a school, Trump University was in reality a series of real estate workshops in hotel ballrooms around the country, not unlike many other for-profit self-help or motivational seminars. Though short-lived, it remains a thorn in Trump’s side nearly five years after its operations ceased: In three pending lawsuits, including one in which the New York attorney general is seeking $40 million in restitution, former students allege that the enterprise bilked them out of their money with misleading advertisements.
Instead of a fast route to easy money, these Trump University students say they found generic seminars led by salesmen who pressured them to invest more cash in additional courses. The students say they didn’t learn Trump’s secrets and never received the one-on-one guidance they expected.”
Additionally, Trump University handed out information on how to create a machine of salespeople to convince others into joining the Trump U movement. Included below is a graph from Trump University 101, by Don Sexton, which shows just one way members are encouraged to create self-identification and enthusiasm in the program. You can judge if this is advice that should cost thousands of dollars.
Trump has already retorted his full confidence that he had done nothing wrong. Additionally, he sprinkled in his usual rhetoric of racial outrage. Trump talked to the media and stated “I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump. A hater. He’s a hater,” Trump said. “We’re in front of a very hostile judge. The judge was appointed by Barack Obama,” Trump said, adding he believed Curiel was “Mexican,” though he backed that up with his complete lack of concern in this racial fact, which got an audible reaction of anger from his San Diego audience this past Friday. Trump brought race to the table in another attempt to discredit someone based on the stereotypical, and usually negative, reputation of Mexican people. We already know where he stands on the issue of Mexican immigration and he has used this racial rhetoric to get a rise from his supporters and complimentary media coverage before.
When Donald Trump stated, in his Trump U instructional video, “success is going to happen to you,” who was Trump speaking to? Most likely, himself. To think this all took place with the justification of being an institution of education is laughable, and many of it’s former students aren’t laughing. These practices will very likely reflect his current political race. Trump University is just like any other scam, on par with selling kitchen knives or magic coffee.
(Top Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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