Lindsey Pulse
Trump University Cases Settled For $25 Million
The settlement covers two lawsuits based in California and one in New York.
LEARN MOREPosted: 9:06 a.m. EST Jan 6, 2017
Donald Trump just sat down for a sworn deposition.
A judge ordered the deposition after the president-elect filed a lawsuit against chef José Andrés, who backed out of building a restaurant at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The dispute started during the 2015 campaign season, when Trump made several comments about Mexican immigrants.
"They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people, " Trump said at a campaign event.
He also said the U.S. has become a "dumping ground for everybody else's problems."
When he backed out of the deal, Andrés said in a statement, "as a proud Spanish immigrant and recently naturalized American citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status."
Trump and his team originally asked for $10 million in damages from the cancellation. But, according to Politico, over the past year, that number has increased.
Andrés isn't the only chef Trump is battling. Geoffrey Zakarian also pulled out of plans to open a restaurant at the same D.C. hotel. That case is headed to trial, though no date has been set.
Outside the restaurant world, the president-elect is entangled in a ton of other lawsuits. USA Today reports his companies are facing open lawsuits for alleged sexual discrimination, fraud, unpaid bills and contract disputes.
Presidential depositions are rare. The last president to face questioning was Bill Clinton for a sexual harassment suit in 1998. Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Ulysses S. Grant are the only other sitting presidents to be deposed.
