On the night of March 3, Donald Trump was backed into a corner.

Under the bright lights of The Fox Theater in Detroit, Trump was getting hammered by both Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly and Marco Rubio about Trump University, as they accused him of being a con artist who bilked veterans, teachers and other working-class Americans out of millions of dollars.


As he repeatedly tried to interrupt the tag-team effort, Trump offered up one of his most explicit explanations for why the Better Business Bureau had slapped Trump University with a dismal rating — because it didn’t really matter to him.

“The only reason it was a D was because we didn’t care, we didn’t give them the information,” Trump said. “Once they had the information, it was an A.”

But court records reviewed by POLITICO tell a very different story.

Starting in at least the fall of 2009, top Trump University officials engaged in a year-and-a-half-long campaign to get the Better Business Bureau to bump up the organization’s rating, which documents say ranged from B-plus to D-minus from the fall of 2009 to the summer of 2011.

And on April 21, 2010, Trump himself personally called the CEO of the BBB’s metropolitan New York chapter to discuss Trump University’s then-D-minus grade, according to the documents, part of a class-action court case.

While the court records do not include details of the call, the fact that Trump felt a need to have a direct conversation contradicts his statement earlier this year that “we didn’t care.” There’s also his claim that Better Business Bureau officials bumped up Trump University’s rating to an A once they got the full story — in 2011, the rating nudged up, but only as high as a C-minus; it defaulted to an A only after the company shut down and the prior complaints rolled off.

And Trump’s direct involvement suggests the knocks against his now-defunct real estate seminar have long gotten under his skin.

With lawsuits over Trump University all but guaranteed to stretch through the general election battle, Hillary Clinton is already trying to push Trump’s buttons.

Clinton went on a Twitter spree Wednesday, saying in one tweet, “The Trump University con says a lot about Trump. If you can't trust him with your personal finances — how can we trust him with our country?”

At a rally, she doubled down. "This is just more evidence that Donald Trump himself is a fraud. He is trying to scam America the way he scammed all of those people at Trump U,” she declared.

Trump himself countered with his own three-minute video posted to his campaign’s YouTube channel on Wednesday that includes testimonials from former customers and takes a whack at the news media for having taken “selected portions of documents and testimony and spun them in order to further their agenda of attacking Mr. Trump’s business record.”

Trump University started in earnest in the mid-2000s, after a businessman named Michael Sexton successfully pitched Trump on the idea of entrepreneurship courses that would bear the Trump name and gave Trump more than 90 percent of the business.

But even as the enterprise expanded into live seminars and other ventures, complaints with the Better Business Bureau piled up, as customers complained about high-pressure sales tactics and little return for the thousands of dollars they had forked over.

Its BBB rating was also low. Though Trump University listed itself on an application for an accreditation in the fall of 2009 as having a B+ rating, the grade had sunk to a D- in the spring of 2010 as complaints mounted, according to court records.

Trump University officials and Trump himself did not sit idly by.

The lengthy back-and-forth between Trump University and the Better Business Bureau started in the fall of 2009, according to the records. By then, Trump University had grown into a series of live events and mentorships hosted across the country.

Trump U applied for Better Business Bureau accreditation, but was twice turned down. BBB stated several reasons for doing so: For one, Trump University shouldn’t have its moniker if it wasn’t an academic institution, the Better Business Bureau wrote. And instructors shouldn’t be referred to as “professors” and “faculty” in promotional materials.

In spring of 2010, Sexton, then Trump University president, reached out to the business-grading agancy about Trump University’s struggles with it.

“I am contacting you directly to resolve a serious issue that my company, Trump University, has with the D- rating given it by the BBB,” Sexton wrote in the April 20, 2010, email that was marked with a “High” importance and included the subject line “urgent matter requires attention.”

The low Better Business Bureau rating was a “serious issue,” Sexton wrote, because “we represent one of the most consumer conscious brands in the world” and go to great lengths to protect its value and reputation.

The poor rating, Sexton said, has “drawn the attention of Mr. Trump,” who would like to set up a call.

“Please let me know whom I should speak with as soon as possible to set up this call directly with Mr. Trump,” Sexton wrote, as he then makes another pitch for the BBB to accredit Trump University.

Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau’s metropolitan New York chapter, wrote in an emailed response on April 21, 2010, that the organization would review the rating and Trump University’s application.

She also emphasized that “BBB accreditation is by invitation only” and that the BBB needs “official documentation” showing that Trump University has changed its name to Trump Education.

Rosenzweig put a hand-written note on a printout of the email with apparent follow-up information, including that Trump had personally called.

“Michael Sexton called on 4/21 at aprox. 4:50 to discuss the letter. & then Donald Trump called to discuss & I explained the below,” Rosenzweig’s note states, referencing her email from earlier that day.

The documents do not show what happened after that call, and Sexton and Rosenzweig did not respond to requests for comment placed through the Trump Organization and the Better Business Bureau. The Trump Organization also declined comment. In a statement, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks reiterated that “Trump University received an A rating from the BBB” and pointed to a website focused on Trump University’s positive reviews, 98percentapproval.com.

However, Sexton and others from Trump University kept trying to improve the business’s standing over the next year. Sexton said Trump University would stop calling the instructors “professor” or “faculty.” And it was “in the process of re-branding” so that the word University wasn’t in the company’s name.

Trump University filled out applications to become accredited at least two more times but was denied. Its rating didn’t rise to an A, and Trump University officials kept pressing for improvements.

“Over the past five years I have literally spoken to thousands of customers who could do nothing but gush over the experience they had working with us,” one email, from Trump University employee Mark Covais sent on June 3, 2011, reads. “I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can to see that high quality is reflected in our score.”

But even as Trump University officials extolled the virtues of the company to the Better Business Bureau, customers lodged more grievances.

Eight complaints to the New York metropolitan BBB reviewed by POLITICO, obtained through an open records request, show former students claiming they didn’t get what they were promised from the courses. One tried to use her Trump University training to buy property but found she couldn’t get financing because of credit card debt she racked up purchasing the coursework. Trump University “kept using stall tactics by asking us to send proof of contacting them or trying to dispute the charge,” another student wrote.

Even as customers’ irritation grew, Trump University officials became increasingly frustrated by its sub-par rating.

The issue came to a head in the summer of 2011, according to court records. At that point, Trump University had garnered widespread criticism and a class-action lawsuit against the business had been filed. It had also officially changed its name, to Trump Entrepreneur Institute, roughly six years after New York State Education Department officials first told the company that the Trump University name could be misleading.

As the business’s troubles mounted, George Sorial, who then held the title of Trump Organization managing director and assistant general counsel, threatened to sue.

“When dialogue between our offices began several months ago, we agreed to work together and proceed in good faith towards an ‘A+’ evaluation,” Sorial wrote to the Better Business Bureau on July 26, 2011. “Your office has been totally unresponsive,” he continued, “please be advised that we request you re-evaluate your decision to issue a grade of ‘C-’ for TEI. During the interim, we demand that you immediately withdraw the grade of ‘C-.’”

“Your failure to immediately comply with our demand will force us to proceed with a legal action against you and the BBB,” Sorial wrote.

The next day, Sorial followed up with an email, telling the BBB that its “failure to respond and comply with our demands” indicates the company didn’t want to comply, and asking for the contact information of the Better Business Bureau’s lawyer “so I can serve a Summons/Complaint for a lawsuit.”

“Otherwise I intend to serve [the summons] directly to you at the BBB offices in NYC,” the email says.

The records don’t explicitly outline how the issue was resolved. But in an email sent shortly thereafter on July 28, 2011, Better Business Bureau Senior Vice President Susan McMillan says the BBB agreed to change the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative’s status to NR — “no rating” — while the BBB again reviewed the program’s application. Sorial wrote in reply on July 31, 2011, that he’s “glad we could resolve this amicably” and will “resubmit our application when we can.”

“We want to enjoy a positive relationship with the BBB going forward and will endeavor to obtain a score of ‘A+’ in the near future,” Sorial wrote.

Eventually, problems with the rating would fade as lawsuits mounted and the operation largely shut down in 2011. The Better Business Bureau holds complaints for only three years; after that, they no longer affect business’ rating, and without the complaints Trump University’s rating recently rose to an A and an A+, long after it had stopped holding seminars, according to a statement the BBB issued after the March 3 debate.

But the rise in the rating has done little to quell Trump’s legal woes. Two major lawsuits filed against Trump University, one in California and another in New York, have been lodged in the years since Trump University representatives first started contacting the BBB. And, as in his sparring with the BBB, Trump has downplayed the lawsuits, calling the California class-action a “peanuts case” and accusing its judge of being biased against him.

“This should have been dismissed on summary judgment easily,” Trump said last week. “Everybody says it, but I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s a hater.”