Donald Trump has claimed he would have won a series of lawsuits against his now-defunct Trump University, but "did not have the time" to fight each case.

Lawyers for the President-elect reached an out-of-court $25m (£20m) settlement to avoid a trial in a potentially embarrassing case that, during his campaign, he had promised to keep fighting.

Those alleging they had been wronged accused the university - which claimed to be for real estate investors - of defrauding students.

But Mr Trump has maintained he did nothing wrong.

On Twitter, he wrote: "I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country.


Image: A series of audio business courses by Trump University on display at a Barnes & Noble store

"The only bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!"

Anyone who enrolled for Trump University paid up to $35,000 a year to take part in programmes that promised to reveal Mr Trump's business secrets.

About 6,000 students who say they lost out as a result of signing up, and who later joined two class action suits in San Diego, California, will share $21m if a federal judge approves the settlement.

A further $4m will be paid to settle a complaint filed by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman in 2013.

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In a statement, Mr Schneiderman said his office sued Mr Trump for "swindling thousands of innocent Americans out of millions of dollars".

He added that the out-of-court deal was "a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university".

Under the terms of the settlements, Mr Trump does not admit any wrongdoing.

The lawsuits alleged that the nationwide seminars provided by Trump University were like infomercials, pressuring people into spending more but, ultimately, failing to deliver on their promises.

I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016

The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016

The San Diego trial was scheduled to last several weeks and threatened to dominate the headlines as the President-elect continues to fill cabinet posts.

Jason Forge, a lawyer for the students who brought the action, said they should each be able to receive at least half and possibly all their money back - as much as $35,000.

During the campaign, Mr Trump attacked the judge overseeing the San Diego cases, Gonzalo Curiel, by claiming his Mexican heritage made him biased.

In May, Mr Trump told supporters at a rally that he would travel to San Diego to testify once he had won the presidency.

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He said at the time: "I could have settled this case numerous times but I don't want to settle cases when we're right. I don't believe in it.

"And when you start settling cases, you know what happens? Everybody sues you because you get known as a settler. One thing about me, I am not known as a settler."

Lawyers for those bringing the action said moves to settle happened quickly after Mr Trump won his surprise victory in the 8 November election.

Mr Schneiderman said Mr Trump fought him "every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university".

It comes as the US Senate's top Democrat says he is "very concerned" about Mr Trump's choice of Jeff Sessions for attorney general, after he also selected retired general Mike Flynn as national security adviser and Kansas representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director.