Telegraph to Pay Melania Trump ‘Substantial’ Damages for Article

(Bloomberg) -- The Telegraph agreed to pay U.S. First Lady Melania Trump “substantial” damages after running an article in its magazine a week ago that it said included “a number of false statements” and shouldn’t have been published.

The British newspaper said “The Mystery of Melania,” the cover story of its Jan. 19 edition of the magazine, it made erroneous claims about her family and career. The article can no longer be found its website.

In an explanation titled “Melania Trump -- An Apology,” the newspaper wrote that the first lady’s father was not “a fearsome presence and did not control the family.” It also said she didn’t leave her studies in design and architecture at university due to an exam, but because she wanted to pursue a career as a model. It also said it inaccurately stated she was “struggling” as a model when she met Donald Trump, now the president.

It corrected the timing of when she met Trump, and when her family arrived in the U.S. The apology also said the story erroneously reported she cried the night her husband was elected president.

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

A spokeswoman at the Telegraph didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Saturday.

Melania Trump has previously taken aim at other journalists who have written about her family or experience growing up in Slovenia. On her Facebook page, she regularly posts retractions that media outlets have made after reporting on her immigration status or other aspects of her life. She has also posted letters from her lawyers, challenging the accuracy of news stories.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Gilblom in London at kgilblom@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Chris Vellacott, Stephen Kirkland

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