Melania Trump wins damages from Daily Mail libel case

The Daily Mail has agreed to pay damages to settle a libel claim from Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States.

Donald Trump’s wife brought the case against the UK publication after it made false claims about her career as a professional model, with the settlement reportedly including a damages payment of £2.4m.

The British daily has also agreed to publish an apology to Mrs Trump, as well as on its website Mail Online. It ran a double page spread in the summer of 2016, during her husband’s presidential election campaign, which included several “false and defamatory claims” about the former model.

The daily newspaper has also agreed to publish an apology to Mrs Trump

An agreed statement was read to the Royal Courts of Justice in London by Trump’s solicitor John Kelly following the settlement being reached.

"The allegations strike at the heart of the claimant’s personal integrity and dignity," the statement read. "The claimant has not acted as alleged. The suggestion that such allegations even merit investigation is deeply offensive and has caused a great deal of upset to the claimant."

Among the allegations published by the paper are claims that she had met Trump three years earlier than they actually did, as well as question marks about the nature of her modelling career.

"We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them. We apologise to Mrs Trump for any distress that our publication caused her," the Daily Mail's apology will read.