A Colorado Springs resident appointed by President Donald Trump to a federal education board is a prolific author of self-help Illuminati books and operator of an education company that sells more than a hundred types of certifications.

The White House announced last week that Trump had nominated George Mentz to the Commission on Presidential Scholars. His nomination does not require Senate confirmation.

“I’m extremely excited for myself, my family and Colorado,” Mentz said in an interview Friday. “I can’t tell you how happy I am. I’ve been an educator for many years.”

The Commission on Presidential Scholars chooses the most distinguished high school seniors in the country each year. The commission includes a former member of the Michigan State Board of Education and the 2019 National Teacher of the Year, among other education experts.

Mentz is a lawyer and a professor of online courses on wealth management at the Texas A&M University School of Law. He also writes for the conservative outlet Newsmax, which is owned by a Trump confidante, and he founded an aggregated news website, the New York Gazette.

Mentz’s books include “The Illuminati Secret Laws of Money,” “The Illuminati Handbook,” “50 Laws of Power of the Illuminati,” and “100 Secrets and Habits of the Illuminati for Life Success.” Nearly all of his works are about money and often center on mindfulness secrets to achieving wealth.

“If you conceive of your desire, you can then imagine that your goal will take place with belief, and then you will be able (to) retrieve the opportunity from the world’s storehouse of riches,” he wrote in a 2013 book, “Abundance Bible & the Secret Powers of Manifesting Wealth Health and Peace of Mind.”

“When a person stops struggling and initiates ALCHEMY OR MAGIC, SOMETHING HAPPENS,” Mentz wrote in another 2013 book, “Success Magic — The Prosperity Secret to Win with Magical Spiritual Power: How to Grow Rich, Influence People, Protect Your Mindset and Love Yourself Like a Warrior Using Timeless Abundance Secrets.” An e-book version is available for $2.99 on Amazon.

“Just because I use the word Illuminati, don’t let that get you too excited,” Mentz said with a laugh during an interview. “If you look the word up, it means ‘illumination.’ How to be more aware, conscious, a better person.” References to the “Illuminati” are part of the books’ marketing, he said.

In 2015, Mentz wrote a blog post predicting Trump would win the 2016 election. The next year, he became a member of the Trump campaign’s economic coalition. On his website, Mentz says an unnamed publisher has bought the rights to a “blockbuster book” about Trump’s “success principles.” In an interview, Mentz said he did the research and expects the book will be written by someone else next year.

Mentz said his support of Trump dates back three decades, to when he met Trump at the Superdome in New Orleans, where Mentz is from. Trump was kind and gracious with his time, Mentz said, and he has been a fan ever since. He has donated thousands of dollars to Trump’s campaign and political action committee.

Mentz owns the Global Academy of Finance and Management, which is registered in Colorado Springs. He was previously the CEO of a similar Colorado Springs company, the American Academy of Financial Management.

Both companies award certifications, allowing applicants to add an alphabet soup of titles after their names. You can become an accredited life coach, a certified political scientist, a master Islamic financial specialist or more than a hundred other titles. Having such a certification “makes you one of the next generation of global leaders,” according to a message from Mentz on the GAFM website.

A Wall Street Journal article in 2004 found AAFM awarded certifications to applicants who had never taken a course specifically for the award and, in some cases, had not taken a test to prove they knew the topic at hand.

Mentz defended his certification processes in the interview Friday. He says his companies have rightly used college degrees as a “pathway” to certifications.

“Our standards are pretty basic,” Mentz said, using a journalist as an example. “If you took 135 hours of college education to get your degree from a particular university and satisfied a major in journalism, then you’re qualified for certification in that area if you had a GPA or 3.0 or higher. So, instead of having someone go to Sylvan Learning and take a quiz to be certified, we would allow somebody like you to apply directly for a certification.”

This story has been changed to reflect that George Mentz’s company awards certifications, not certificates.

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