Daily Mail Publisher to Pay $2.9 Million in Damages to Melania Trump

Melania Trump, the First Lady of the United States, has accepted an apology and damages from the publisher of the British newspaper Daily Mail for reporting 'baseless rumors' regarding her modeling career. According to the Associated Press, both parties stated in a joint statement that the Daily Mail has retracted its 'false claims' that Mrs. Trump 'provided other services during her modeling career' and agreed to pay damages and legal costs related to the case. According to a source familiar with the case, who wished to remain anonymous, the total amount related to this legal case in the U.S. and the U.K. was approximately $2.9 million and was not disclosed in court. Melania Trump sued the Daily Mail in the U.K. and the 'Mail Online' site in the U.S. over a report published in August 2016. The report was titled 'Sexual Photos and Troubling Questions About Her Past That Could Bring Donald Trump Down.' In a lawsuit filed in February with New York courts, the First Lady's lawyers claimed that this report was entirely false and harmed her ability to engage in 'multi-million dollar business activities' based on her known persona and 'her successes as an active woman in economic fields.' As part of this agreement, the Daily Mail has apologized, stating: 'We acknowledge that these allegations against Mrs. Trump are untrue and we retract them.' Catherine Eunes, the lawyer for the Daily Mail publisher, stated in a London court session that the company wants to 'bring this matter to a close in the best possible way and apologize to the plaintiff for all the embarrassment and trouble this article may have caused her.' The financial settlement amount is significantly less than what the First Lady expected. Her attorneys had anticipated receiving at least around $150 million.