British Newspaper Prints Apology to Melania Trump, Will Pay Damages

A British newspaper printed an apology to first lady Melania Trump Saturday saying they had agreed to pay her "substantial damages" after publishing several false statements about her family and modeling career.

The claims appeared in London's Daily Telegraph last Saturday, in a cover story entitled "The Mystery of Melania." 

"We apologize unreservedly to The First Lady and her family for any embarrassment caused by our publication of these allegations," the Telegraph wrote Saturday. "As a mark of our regret we have agreed to pay Mrs. Trump substantial damages as well as her legal costs."

This marks the third time Trump has successfully sued publications or online blogs over defamatory articles. 

"We accept that Mrs. Trump was a successful professional model in her own right before she met her husband and obtained her own modeling work without his assistance, " the newspaper said in the apology printed on Saturday. 

Some of the allegations the newspaper listed that they got wrong included:

• "Mrs Trump’s father was not a fearsome presence and did not control the family. "
• "Mrs Trump did not leave her Design and Architecture course at University relating to the completion of an exam, as alleged in the article, but rather because she wanted to pursue a successful career as a professional model."
• "Mrs Trump was not struggling in her modelling career before she met Mr Trump, and she did not advance in her career due to the assistance of Mr Trump."
• "The article also wrongly claimed that Mrs Trump’s mother, father and sister relocated to New York in 2005 to live in buildings owned by Mr Trump.  They did not."
• "Mrs Trump met Mr Trump in 1998, not in 1996 as stated in the article."
• "The claim that Mrs. Trump cried on election night is also false."

This isn't the first time Melania has needed to go to court for defamation. In 2017, the first lady's lawyer said she settled a lawsuit for a "substantial sum" against a Maryland blogger who wrote that Trump had once worked as an escort. 

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