DHAKA: The Daily Mail has apologized to Melania Trump and agreed to pay damages to settle a lawsuit filed by the first lady after the publisher made false claims about her work as a professional model.

Trump will be paid about $2.9 million in damages and costs, according to a source familiar with the settlement, reports the CNN.

“We accept that these allegations about Mrs. Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them. We apologize to Mrs. Trump for any distress that our publication caused her,” the Daily Mail and Mail Online said in a statement.

Trump filed a suit against the Mail Online in September, accusing it of making false and defamatory statements. The suit, which asked for at least $150 million in damages, was later moved from Maryland to New York.

Trump also filed suit against the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom.

The Daily Mail is a tabloid newspaper in Britain, but it also publishes a digital version with significant readership in the United States.

BDST: 1740 HRS, APR 12, 2017
AP