Current Republican Presidential challenger Donald Trump is no stranger to the inside of a courtroom. He has been a part of hundreds of lawsuits at every level of the court system, with 169 at the federal level alone (or close to 2.5 per year since his birth).
He has been both a plaintiff and a defendant. He has sued and been sued for both business and personal reasons alike. And he’s both won and lost his share of cases, big and small.
His legal targets have included personal assistants, celebrities, mental patients, people who should probably be mental patients, prisoners, unions, rival businessmen, and his own family members.
In short, there is no lack of legal precedent involving The Donald. To that end, we’ve culled through some of the best of the best for this Top 15 Lawsuits Involving Donald Trump article. Here are our picks!
1. Donald J. Trump vs. Fellow Billionaire Henry Cheng
Donald Trump was the primary plaintiff in a lawsuit against Henry Cheng, a Hong Kong real estate developer who in the 1990s had purchased a 75-acre piece of land along the Hudson River from a then cash-strapped Trump.
According to the New York Times, Cheng’s Hong Kong group was able to buy a $250 million debt on the land for a bargain price of some $90 million, thus taking over the Riverside South area with Trump a presumably begrudging partner.
The word “begrudging” seems appropriate when you consider that Trump had Cheng in litigation until 2009, accusing his fellow billionaire friend of hiding the full books on him, selling properties at $1.8 billion while ignoring higher bids, and tax evasion.
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, handed Trump a final defeat in 2009, ruling that he did not have the right to access all of the defendant’s books and records.
Winner: Cheng
Image Source: HKCHCC.org
2. Donald J. Trump vs. NY Times Reporter Timothy L. O’Brien
Trump took on New York Times reporter and TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald author Timothy L. O’Brien when O’Brien had the nerve of accusing “the Donald” of holding a more meager net worth than he liked reporting.
O’Brien’s book (citing three unnamed sources close to Trump) found the real estate mogul and reality TV star with a net worth of between $150 million and $250 million. Trump took exception, according to CNN, finding that the claim hurt his brand.
As a result, he sued O’Brien in 2008 for libel, seeking $5 billion. By the following year, the court had dismissed the case in O’Brien’s favor, per CNN.
Winner: O’Brien
Image Source: Newsweek
3. Donald J. Trump vs. Ex-Wife Ivana Trump
Donald and Ivana Trump appear to have a cordial relationship on the surface, but according to a July 2015 report from the Daily Beast, the former star of The Apprentice sued Ivana for $25 million fresh off the settlement of their 1992 divorce.
Ivana was accused of “‘willful, deliberate and surreptitious disclosure’ of details relating to his finances, despite having signed an agreement that she wouldn’t talk publicly about their relationship,” the Beast reports.
Worse, the news site pointed to a deposition that Ivana gave at the time in which she accused Trump of raping her. She has since clarified she felt “emotionally violated” because of Trump’s cold demeanor toward her, has blasted the implication it was an actual rape, and even endorsed Trump for President.
The primary documents related to their legal jousting are not available to the public, or we would include a link.
Winner: Trump
Image Source: IJ Review
4. Trump vs. Merv Griffin (1988)
For a brief time in 1988, former talk show host Merv Griffin and The Donald went head-to-head over Griffin’s push to break into the Atlantic City, N.J., casino market by purchasing stake in Resorts International.
According to a March 1988 piece from the L.A. Times, Trump controlled “88% of the voting securities of Resorts, largely through Class B stock that he bought for $135 a share” in 1987, and he also served as Company Chairman.
Problems arose when Griffin submitted a high-ball offer of $35 a share for all Class A and B Resorts International stock, which was a substantial boost over The Donald’s then pending bid of $22-per-share. Trump called the Griffin bid “ridiculous.”
Trump then filed a lawsuit, an action Griffin’s reps alleged was done solely in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate his rival. Trump and Griffin would eventually settle their differences with Griffin getting Resorts and Trump getting a profit the New York Times reported as $400 million.
The Donald was also able to negotiate a future repurchase of the Trump Taj Mahal under the terms of the deal.
Winner: Draw
Image Source: Biography
5. Trump vs Trump
In August 2015, Crain’s New York rehashed a 1984 incident in which Trump sued a developer group for sharing his name.
Jules and Eddie Trump were looking to get into the New York drug store market. Through a case of mistaken identity, industry publication Drug Store News sent a letter of congratulations to Donald J. Trump’s attorney. Naturally, this found its way back to Trump, who was not appreciative of the commonality.
In response, a lawsuit was filed that would linger in court for five years. The Donald’s suit was eventually dismissed, and the other Trumps were denied damages on their countersuit. Jules and Eddie continue to develop properties in Florida and Israel among other locations.
Winner: Jules/Eddie Trump
Image Source: SoFlaNights
6. New York vs. Trump University
Vox’s Libby Nelson gives a detailed rundown of the case against Trump University (aka Trump Entrepreneur Initiative) through March 1, 2016. There are three lawsuits in all, and much of it is still pending, though current developments certainly aren’t favoring The Donald.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called it a classic “bait and switch” multi-level marketing scam, and an appeals court recently allowed his $40 million lawsuit against the program to proceed.
Among the allegations: fraudulent marketing claims that Trump himself “hand-picked” all faculty when in reality, he didn’t know many of their names.
Nelson sums up the complaints remarking the following:
“People were lured into a free workshop with marketing materials that promised they’d learn Trump’s real estate secrets from his ‘handpicked’ instructors and maybe even from Trump himself. Instead, they were urged to sign up for a three-day seminar that cost nearly $1,500. And at that seminar, they were pushed to sign up for an elite mentorship program that could cost as much as $35,000 per year.”
Trump remains confident that he will win the lawsuit. Primary source materials related to past judgments can be found through FindLaw both here and here.
Winner: Ongoing
Image Source: CNN
7. William Mays and Louis Buddy Yosha vs. Trump Indiana Incorporated
In the early 1990s, Indiana passed a measure allowing gambling in the state for the first time. A couple of successful area businessmen then sought to partner with Trump Indiana Inc., to open one of the first casinos allowed under the new law. Unfortunately, things went south in a hurry.
Mays and Yosha hoped to lend their support to Trump and cash in on his well-known name. Eventually, they would claim that Trump failed them in two ways: “(1) to make them minority (1 percent each) partners in his Indiana gambling enterprise and (2) to create a foundation-with the two of them on its board of directors and little control from Trump-to benefit various charitable causes in Indiana,” according to the appellate court’s opinion.
Initially, the pair were awarded $1.4 million in damages, but the U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, reversed that decision, noting that “Mays and Yosha were essentially seeking millions for almost nothing because for a time they thought they were going to get exactly that, millions for almost nothing.”
The court’s opinion continued: “For lending their names to the Trump team during the license application process, but without actually investing any money or putting any of their assets at risk, Mays and Yosha hoped to hit a jackpot once the casino boat was launched. The desire to put one’s self in that position is completely understandable. But this complicated deal was never reduced to the kind of solid contract that could be comfortably enforced in a court of law.”
The appellate court reversed and remanded the lower court’s decision in favor of Trump.
Winner: Trump
Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons
8. Hakimoglu vs. Trump Taj Mahal
Another one from the early 1990s — this time, Ayhan Hakimoglu sued Trump Taj Mahal for allowing him to continue gambling in spite of his inebriated state, “intentionally and maliciously” enticing him even though they knew he was past the point of coherent, according to the appellate court opinion.
The ABA Journal notes that the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit “rejected the argument, saying that New Jersey’s dram shop doctrine did not extend to casinos.”
Winner: Trump
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
9. Jones vs. Maples/Trump
Charles “Chuck” Jones had a beef with Trump and his then-wife Marla Maples because he felt that Donald shut him out of his rightful place as his wife’s entertainment agent and that he was owed commission from her work.
He brought suit against the couple, but ultimately failed to prove his claims. Jones wasn’t helped by the fact that he’d been arrested in 1992 for breaking into Maples’ apartment and “taking her shoes, underwear, photographs, and private papers, as well as for illegal possession of a weapon,” a court doc from 2002 stated.
Winner: Trump (and Maples)
Image Source: Celebrity Net Worth
10. Holiday Inns, Inc. vs. Donald J. Trump vs. Harrah’s Inc.
In 1985, Holiday Inns, Inc., and subsidiary Harrah’s, went to war with Trump, who counterclaimed “plaintiffs’ breaches of their reciprocal fiduciary duty to him.”
Central to Holiday Inns’ argument was that Trump had breached terms of a partnership deal on Trump Casino Hotel by opening up a competing casino with the Trump name independent of their agreement.
Holiday Inns argued that Trump refused “to recognize plaintiffs’ ownership interest in land designated for a new parking facility and his use of his name in connection with his new casino hotel,” thus creating unfair competition, according to the court document from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The court ultimately denied most of the plaintiff’s case with the exception of the parking facility, on which it gave the parties 45 days to come to terms.
Winner: Trump
Image Source: TripAdvisor
11. Trump International Golf Club vs. Harry Theodoracopulos
In 2012, Trump International Golf Club won its appeal after losing at the lower court to suspended club member Harry Theodoracopulos. Apparently, Theodoracopulos was a “cancer” to the club for certain unbecoming behavior, according to comments allegedly made by Trump himself. The court document notes that his “unbecoming” behavior included abuse of caddies.
Theodoracopulos sought the pro rata share of his membership dues as well as a $200,000 deposit. The appeals court found that the lower court had erred in assuming that Trump International Golf Club had permanently expelled the defendant and predicated their judgment based on that detail.
The court reversed and remanded the decision in the Club’s favor.
Winner: Trump
Image Source: Trump International Golf Club
12. U.S. Dept. of Justice vs. Donald J. Trump
In April 1988, Trump was the target of a civil penalty for his attempts to take over Holiday Corp. and Bally Manufacturing. The Associated Press noted at the time that Trump’s 1986 stock purchases in the two companies “violated the notification procedures required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.”
The law required buyers “to notify the government before purchasing more than $15 million worth of voting stock in a company and wait 30 days before completing the transaction.” As a result of the violations, Trump was forced to pay a $750,000 civil penalty.
The original DOJ complaint can be read in its entirety at this link.
Winner: U.S. Dept. of Justice
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
13. Trump vs. Palm Beach
This is one of those few Donald Trump lawsuits that stands out, and has been frequently used as a talking point among his supporters. While no official citation is available since Trump ultimately withdrew the lawsuit upon reaching an agreement with the city of Palm Beach, Politico reports that Trump got litigious after violating a piece of code limiting the size of flagpoles when he purchased the Mar-a-Lago Mansion to use as a social club.
He — many say intentionally — violated the code by putting up an 80-foot tall flagpole with an oversized American flag attached. Palm Beach fined him $250 per day every day that the flag was up. The fine swelled to $120,000, and Trump took his case to a national audience saying that the “unpatriotic” Palm Beach community was punishing him for exercising his right to free speech. He would then initiate a lawsuit asking for $25 million in damages. Eventually, he agreed to drop it in exchange for a waiver of the fine.
Here’s where the story gets a little mythic, and can’t quite be confirmed one way or the other. Politico notes that Trump and the city solved their differences in “court-ordered mediation” and that “Trump would file for a permit and be allowed to keep an oversized pole on Mar-a-Lago that was 10-feet shorter than the original pole and on a different spot on his lawn.”
Also as part of the agreement, Trump agreed to pay $100,000 to veterans’ charities. As for that “other part on his lawn,” the unconfirmed part of the story is that he relocated the flag to a man-made hill on the property in order to still get the 80-foot height for which he was hoping.
Winner: Trump
Image Source: Snopes
14. Jill Harth Houraney vs. Donald J. Trump
Jill Harth Houraney once brought a $125 million lawsuit against Trump for alleged sexual assault. Houraney was at the time married to a man named George, who was partnered with Trump on an event called the American Dream Festival.
The year was 1997, and the festival was to be an “event-oriented affair that includes a ‘Calendar Girl’ competition, whereby young, often vulnerable female contestants compete for prizes and titles,” according to Houraney’s 12-page complaint.
The main complaint against Trump was that he groped and violated Houraney’s “physical and mental integrity.” He also engaged in “Svengali-type acts to control and subjugate.” His goal: to turn Houraney into his “sex slave.”
Trump’s representatives vehemently denied there was any truth to the allegations, claiming that Houraney was being used as a pawn in a ploy to get at Trump by her now ex-husband. Oddly enough, Houraney has simultaneously stood by the claims while calling Donald Trump a friend and voicing her support for him in the 2016 election.
Winner: Trump
Image Source: LawNewz
15. Rafael A. Oliveras and Lopez de Victoria vs. National Republican Party and Donald Trump
If you have a PACER account, you can access the full details of this current 2016 attempt to derail Trump’s candidacy through the courts instead of the ballot box. Initiated by Oliveras and de Victoria, LawNewz offers this summary from the plaintiffs:
“Candidate Donald Trump publicly disgraced and discriminated against Hispanics by wholesale comparing them with murderers, rapists and known gang members.”
The plaintiffs’ objective and unlikely outcome: bar Trump from seeking the office of President of the United States “all together.”
Winner (so far): Trump
Image Source: DownTrend
Final Tally: 9 Wins, 4 Losses, 1 Draw, 1 Undecided
So there you have it — Trump’s greatest legal hits and misses as determined by The Reeves Law Group. Any cases deserve to be here, but didn’t make the list? Share your picks in the comments section below!
Very presidential. Gotta give him one thing, he is not afraid of a fight.
which is amazing since he has such tiny hands and gets his ass beaten regularly.
Yes, Clinton was so very Presidential in his lying under oath trying to redefine sexual relations and what the meaning of “is” is. It got him the ‘very presidential’ award of impeachment and stripped of his license to practice law. Very Presidential to use a young intern for his under-the-desk gratification in the Oval Office while on the phone with international government heads. Very presidential to sneak away from security team to jog to Jennifer. Very presidential and Commander in Chief to write a letter to a general stating he “loathe the military”.
Need I go on? The list is very long.
So, you’re saying Hillary is responsible for what her hubby says? You do realize Bill Clinton is NOT running for POTUS, right? On the other hand, 169 outstanding Trump lawsuits, going to court in Nov for racketeering, and in December for child rape. And, YOU bring up Bill Clinton from 20 years ago. Dude, get a newspaper, it’s 2016.
Thank You!
How do you feel now??? He’s being impeached for a second time and has at least 10 law suits pending including in Ga. For intimidating an official in an election. Wow that’s really presidential.
The Donald J. Trump vs. Ex-Wife Ivana Trump case is a very controversial one. Ivana claimed that she was raped by Trump in vengeance when a bald spot reduction surgery on him, by one of her doctors went painfully bad. In sheer outrage, he started off by ripping chunks of her hair out and then proceeded with the rape. Trump however denies the accusation, stating that the event did not take place and he never got any such surgery.
She agrees with him. She explained how she was taken out of context on that, and did not ever claim literal rape. More media partial abortion of the truth.
Ivana Trump used the word rape in a signed deposition during the 90s.
Mr Trump doesn’t really go down without putting up one heck of a fight. Most of the cases do sound weird to me at least, but he not only opted in to take matters to the court, but also ended up winning so many of them! All I can say is that this man sure knows what he is doing.
Wow I cant belive he sued his ex wife and won. I dont know if it was really rape or if she was emotionally violated, but if she signed something stating she wouldn’t talk about their relationship, then she should have been sued.
So Jill Harth Houraney sues him for sexual assault but still considers him a friend and is supporting his presidential election?! If he really did this, she would hate him…especially since she lost he lawsuit. Who would kiss and makeup with something who did this…let me tell you the answer…no one. So obviously this never happened and she was only going after money.
no she wouldn’t. money is more to some than honor. It happens every day, every where in this world. Especially among big $$ business, MONEY trumps, & I’m sure her husband & the Donald do business, so some lax words that he was misunderstood or he misunderstood her play. As long as the cash keeps coming in, people sell their souls for it.
It’s all about the money at the end of the day for some people.
I’m really surprised about the Trump vs Trump case. If doesn’t seem right to me that Jules and Eddie Trump are able to use the name. Smart on their end to ride off the name, but I can see where people would confuse it with Donald Trumps brand. That’s just wrong!
They weren’t using HIS NAME. Th I am name happens to be Trump also.
Wow he really have been to court a lot!! Not something I would like to do. But when you have the big bucks, you have to protect yourself and your investments or people will walk all over you! I don’t blame him!
Considering the fact that Mr Trump is one of the richest people of the world and is one of the most successful capitalist businessman, it is no surprise to me that he has been through so many court trails. What I do find a little odd is some of the cases that were filed. I mean they are simply petty. Trump vs Trump case is one of those.
I believe that once you’re THAT rich, it doesn’t really matter if something sounds sane or not. If it feels right, it will be done without any hesitation of the consequences. Haha
That’s true! You stop worrying about what other people might think about you, apparently. Lol
The guy pays people to do most of his work, gets bankrupt alot and doesn’t even bother to read, let alone immerse himself in corporate work and funds a tv program wholly that annouces and ‘says’ he’ a succesfful businessman. In reality, he;s nothing like warren buffet and has been feeding over a silver spoon most of his life and taking credit for the work that he hires people to do.
According to tony schwartz, the guy who wrote pretty much the whole book of (the art of the deal), yet donald trump swooped in afterwards to put his name as one of the authors despite doing jack but throwing his money to get it promoted. He’s just a guy with money who’s a fraud who takes credit for other peoples’ work and lies alot.
Wow 15 different court cases and I’m sure there are a lot of others that did t make the list. Intereting tonread through these. Some are just people trying to profit from his name. It’s a shame people are like this and don’t work hard, like Donald, for their money.
The old saying is true. Anyone can sue anybody for anything. People with deep pockets and some notariaty are targets for nut cases. 15 is a small number considering the time frame and the diversity of business endeavors. People are too stupid as well as too uninformed to have a realistic perspective on that.
Sometimes lawsuits are filed as a business negotiating tool for a settlement regardless of the lack of merits. Most are settled due to the triviality and pain in the ass to litigate regardless of the weakness of merits. These attorneys know it and are trying to stir people up with the notion Trump is some kind of criminal.
It is part of doing business to expect this garbage from bottom feeders that make a living on sensationalism. They won’t tell you he paid federal government $40 million in personal taxes plus matching FICA taxes for every employee, plus personal state income taxes. They won’t tell you he spent over 10% of his adjusted gross income in charity donations ($27 million) to the CATO institute, VA organizations, and others. He has been audited by the IRS every year for 15 years so you know he has not broken the tax laws. He has certified tax accountants and attorneys to make certain of that. I doubt that even 95% of the public gives 10% of their income to charity. This site is dedicated to trying to prove some criminal wrong doing. Maybe they are simply trying to extort money for a settlement. Who knows?
Especially, if the nutcase is Trump himself. He is the one often suing.
I can’t believe Chuck Jones bele iny their place and stole Marlas stuff…her underwear..,really?! I guess he should have thought about before filing this lawsuit against her. I’m sure that informarion wasn’t to public until
His lawsuit. It’s just crazy!!
Regarding Trump University, it would be reasonable if Trump had personally reviewed the resumes to select the staff but not necessarily remember them by name.
At this point it is not clear.
What?! He owes every student of his “university ” a total refund. He was ordered to stop calling it a university – That is bit legal when NI DEGREE IS OFFERED!!
during his presidential announcement, “they’re not sending the best…..they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. There are rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting.”
This seems to be the statement the complaint is focused on. The fact he stated he ‘assumes some are good people’ should have a significant place in this. His comments are fact based, and he cites the information from border agents as his source of the types of criminal element crossing the border. I would include those sneaking across the border illegally to have their babies here as ‘having problems’. The point of his repeating what the border agents told him was to underscore why everyone entering this country should be vetted through immigration. We should not be a dumping ground for drugs and dangerous criminals. Legal immigration isn’t racist.
The issue is definitely the wording. If Trump would have said something like, “The immigrants coming from Mexico are mostly good people and if they follow our laws, pay their taxes and become proper hard working citizens, they are surely welcome. However, we also have a problem that a small portion of the immigrants are really bad people. They are criminals, rapists, you name it. We need to do much more to straighten this poor situation out. And this is my plan….” (and it shouldn’t be a to build a stupid “huge” wall and say Mexico will pay for it!)
Trump’s whole political game is to get people riled up and play on their frustrations, even hate and fears. Whether or not his stupid words warrant a lawsuit is definitely questionable and I wouldn’t have raised the lawsuit myself. However, I will raise my vote against him, as I feel many others should too, because he is a narcissistic idiot.
That is absurd. He was repeating what the border agents had directly told him about what was coming across the border. A proven fact…that was relayed to him. HE added the part that he assumed some were good people. He personally did not quantify in percentages. He repeated what he was told. That does not make him racist, particularly when he personally included on his own that he assumed some were good people, not criminals. Mexico will pay for the wall in the adjustments of trade agreements and other ways. We do not have to send them a bill. There will be the usually regulatory border crossings with gates in the wall for processing the routine commerce and travel. There already is a wall at the California border. Mexico has announced they will build one at their southern border. Your statement is dangerous.
He should never say ‘most’ are good people crossing illegally. That is a statistical lie and an unethical oxymoron. Illegal aliens and legal immigrants are two different things under the law. Hillary and these faux legal groups want open borders and hemispheric government. People are already upset with these Marxist movements. Trump is the person representing a stop to it. There is no one more narcissistic and power hungry than Hillary Mafia (quote General Colin Powell). Yes, I hate them …Soros, Clintonistas, Sorosites and anything that supports them. I didn’t need Trump to show me what utter filth they are…the facts and history are obvious. Sue away, who cares.
Your account is absurd. It was his words for sure. Not even border agents talk so stupidly about people. It is especially not how a possible future president should talk, even if his accounts are semi-correct, which they aren’t. And he never said “illegal aliens”. He said, “when Mexico sends its people” as if Mexico selects the people, who come over the border. It’s stupid. Just to refresh your memory. This is what he said.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
If you had a clue about NAFTA, you’d also know that 1000’s of Mexican’s can cross the border to work in the US. Peacefully and legally. How are they supposed to know who was meant from those words above? Oh, and the number of illegals crossing are dropping constantly and his faint and ever flip-flopping proposals for deportation of the 11 million illegals are, for the most part, impossible. He’s selling snake oil and there are people dumb enough to believe in his stupidity. It’s amazing and really sad.
I don’t know how you can defend such a moron. He is dangerous, because he isn’t only an idiot and has no clue about the true meaning of being POTUS or has any real clue about international relations with Mexico or any other country, he is a Sociopath, which means he doesn’t even give a shit, neither about other people nor about their situation in the world. All Trump cares about is Trump.
#childrapetrump case is being re-filed with an additional witness! Amongst the horrific allegations, the plaintiff, who claims she was violently raped and physically abused, also said that Trump boasted he made a 12 year old abused girl disappear. This was apparently a death threat and plaintiff had also been threatened recently!
If I claimed …
Your grandfather violently raped and physically abused me when I was 13 years old! He also boasted that he made a 12 year old girl abused disappear! He was threatening my life! Horrific man!
Would you accept that as true? If not, why not?
Because everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Is that so difficult to accept? The witnesses may or may not be credible. Evidence is critical.
Why are you attacking me?
That’s exactly the point I was trying to make!
Everyone is innocent until proven guilty under our law. The burden of proof is on the claimant. Credibility is not really there. Evidence is critical. It is more about timing and sensationalism that makes this suspect.
The case was first filed in 1991. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Ivana uses the word rape, over a dozen women have come forward with sexual assault and groping charges, this is a very well documented behavior that goes way back to the 90’s and the lawsuits to prove it. But apparently rape and sexual assaults and 4,000 lawsuits are okay for you to elect a candidate, but God forgive an email case where a GOP head of the FBI even says nothing crimina. Save this country from the alt-right.
I would like to know if the accusations made against President Trump, concerning that he paid out millions years ago for cases brought against him as having sex with children as young as 12 years old is true. I cannot seem to find any true answers to my question. Please where do you go for true FACTS.