Trump’s Taste of His Own Medicine

Donald Trump is being sued, but he's more used to doing the high-profile suing

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Justin Hayworth / AP

Donald Trump speaks during the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, on Aug. 10, 2013

New York state is suing local bigmouth Donald Trump for $40 million, accusing him of running a bogus Trump University that promised students get-rich-quick schemes — but instead was just a series of pointless seminars costing up to $35,000.

And students didn’t even get to meet Trump like they expected — all they got was a photo-op with a life-sized cardboard cutout of the orange-haired real estate mogul.

But state attorney general Eric Schneiderman is just giving Trump, who is notoriously litigious, a taste of his own medicine. Here are some of the most famous (or infamous) legal threats and lawsuits that the Donald has made.

Real Lawsuit With Bill Maher
Trump announced in February on Fox & Friends that he would sue Real Time host Bill Maher for failing to pay up after a very public bet. Maher, mocking Trump’s $5 million pursuit of President Barack Obama’s college records, said that he would pay $5 million to charity if Trump could prove he was not the spawn of an orangutan. Trump provided his birth certificate to prove that his father was, in fact, homo sapien Fred Trump. When Maher didn’t pay up, Trump sued him. Trump put the lawsuit on hold in April — though only temporarily, his spokesman insisted.

Here She Is, Miss Pennsylvania
Trump sued former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin last year after she posted a Facebook rant saying that the Trump-run Miss USA pageant was rigged. The beauty queen said the finalists were picked ahead of time and that the contest was a sham. His spokesman said Monnin was a “sore loser” and was looking for her “15 minutes of fame.” Then Trump sued her for $5 million and won. Monnin’s appeal was struck down in July, and she’s been ordered to pay up.

I’m Really, Really Rich
Call The Donald anything but just a lowly millionaire. In his 2005 book, Trump Nation, Timothy O’Brien cited three confidential sources who said that Trump was worth between $150 million and $250 million. Big mistake. Trump sued O’Brien for libel, claiming that he was actually worth between $5 billion and $6 billion. The case was eventually thrown out.

‘Fat-Ass Pockets’
When Rosie O’Donnell mocked Trump on The View in 2006, he went on the warpath. “I’ll probably sue Rosie, because she doesn’t tell the facts,” Trump told Access Hollywood. “As an example: I’m worth many billions of dollars. She said I was bankrupt. I never went bankrupt. So probably, I’ll sue her. Because it would be fun. I’d like to take some money out of her fat-ass pockets.” Trump never followed through with his lawsuit, but the two went on to have a long and happy Internet feud.

I Did So Send Investigators to Hawaii!
Trump seems to have a thing for O’Donnells. In 2011, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell called Trump a liar for claiming that he sent investigators to Hawaii to investigate the circumstances of Obama’s birth. Trump took to Twitter, threatening to sue O’Donnell for making “many false statements” about him. O’Donnell responded on air with the cold taunt: “Donald Trump will never sue me because I know his big secret, his biggest secret, and he knows that I know it: Donald Trump cannot afford to sue me, and he knows it.” Who knows why, but Trump has yet to file a lawsuit.