Settling lawsuits is an old political tradition.  Bill Clinton paid $850,000 for Paula Jones to go away. 

Trump, like a lot of big corporations (Volkswagen, the people with the killer airbags in your Honda, lots of Wall Street firms, the University of Oregon, just to mention a few of the most recent) settle cases as just another cost of doing their businesses.  

They all 'admit no liability' but we all know they are just buying off the person(s) complaining.  Do you really want the U of O to go to trial and lose more money than if they settle out of court on the three cases they have pending?

Trump has to have set a record for settlements by an individual, though!