Trump Institute was a traveling lecture series founded in 2005. The seminar series was owned and operated by Irene and Mike Milin of

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

. It used

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's name via a licensing agreement with Trump University. According to the general counsel for

The Trump Organization The Trump Organization, Inc. is an American Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Privately owned by Donald Trump, it serves as the holding company for most of Business career of Donald Trump, Trump's business ventures and investments, with ar ...

, the licensing agreement expired in 2009 and was not renewed. During 2006, its first full year of operation, the company put on 120 seminars in 30 cities across the United States, with The Trump Organization receiving a cut for every seat filled. Although the Institute and Trump University were separately owned, their operations overlapped, and they often used promotional materials bearing both names. Many students complained that the Institute made false promises of prosperity and provided little actual teaching, and that requests for refunds were refused or stonewalled. Hundreds of letters of complaint were filed with the state attorneys general of New York,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and with local

Better Business Bureau The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an American private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 92 independently incorporated local BBB organizati ...

s. Although Trump was not personally involved in the operation of the seminar, he endorsed the series in a broadcast

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

titled ''The Donald Trump Way to Wealth''. In the infomercial, Trump claimed that "I put all of my concepts that have worked so well for me, new and old, into our seminar... I'm teaching what I've learned." Michael Sexton, Trump's partner in Trump University, said he chose to work with the Milins because they were "the best in the business". But the Milins had a record of previous

get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little risk, skill, effort, or time. The term "get rich qui ...

s and fraud investigations in multiple states dating back to the 1980s. In 2016 it was revealed that the booklet for Trump Institute, titled ''Billionaire's Road Map to Success'', included at least 20 pages that were plagiarized verbatim from ''

Success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mi ...

'' magazine. The plagiarism was discovered by American Bridge 21st Century, a

super PAC Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...

References

{{Portal bar, United States, Business, Law Companies based in Boca Raton, Florida 2005 establishments in Florida 2009 disestablishments in Florida Business career of Donald Trump