It is possible that 100 women came out of the woodwork with spurious claims against Trump. I think it was likely part of the Beltway playbook to keep him from being elected. Does not mean their was any truth in those claims.
Now there also exists the possibility that lawyers decided that wasting time in court to answer all the charges was a very bad use of Trump’s time and money. They might have decided the risk of a hostile DA and jury was not worth it. Though I am inclined to lean towards this is all BS school. I do keep in mind that a settlement is not automatically an admission of guilt. Usually such stipulates just as much. Rather it is a “I don’t have time for this. Go away and take this money with you.”
I was laughing at the thought that Trump had that much time in 2016 as the article sounds like the encounters not the payoffs were in 2016