Trump receives damages from Daily Mail publisher

The publisher of the UK's Daily Mail newspaper agreed to pay damages to US First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday. The paper also apologized for spreading rumors that the former model had once worked as an escort.

In August 2016, the Daily Mail and the US Mail Online alleged that Trump had provided "services beyond simply modeling," in her previous career. The article - headlined "Racy photos and troubling questions about his wife's past that could derail Trump" - received a two-page spread and featured a picture where the first lady is nude by with her back to the camera.

Trump's lawyer, John Kelly, told the High Court in London that "the article included false and defamatory claims," adding that the "suggestion that such allegations even merit investigation is deeply offensive and has caused a great deal of upset and distress to the claimant."

Melania Trump, 46, then sued both outlets for an undisclosed sum, though sources close to the case said it totaled about $3 million (2.8 million euros).

Associated Newspapers, which publishes The Daily Mail, issued an apology to Trump and printed a retraction on Wednesday: "An article on 20th August 2016 about Melania Trump... questioned the nature of her work as a professional model, and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modeling."

"We accept that these allegations about Mrs. Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them ... we have agreed to pay her damages and costs."

es/kms (AP, Reuters)