The Daily Mail apologized to First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday and agreed to pay an undisclosed sum of money to cover damage from the two lawsuits stemming from an article that suggested that she was an escort before meeting the president.

The Daily Mail issues a full retraction and apology

A lawyer for the British tabloid said that the publication acknowledges that the story they publish was not true and they would like to withdraw from them. He went on to say that the newspaper would like to offer a genuine apology to Mrs. Trump and for any stress it may have caused to her personally and to her businesses.

To settle the lawsuits, The Daily Mail agreed to pay her damages and all her legal costs.

The settlement details

The terms of the settlement weren't immediately available, according to The New York Times. She had initially asked for damages to the tune of $150 million, at least, but that's not what she received.

Mrs. Trump received $2.9 million for damages. While it wasn't the amount she originally asked, Melania's attorney said she was pleased with the offer.

How it came to legal action

The Daily Mail published the article in August and used quotes from a magazine based in Slovenia, the country Mrs.

Trump was born. In September, Melania announced her plans to sue the magazine, as well as a Maryland blogger.

The British tabloid quickly posted a retraction once they knew it was not true. Trump went forward with the lawsuit.

The state of Maryland rejected the lawsuit, stating they didn't have jurisdiction to hear the case.

Melania filed a new case in New York in early February.

The case doesn't mention the White House or President Trump. The lawsuit claims that the article caused her to lose business revenue and alleged that her value depreciated because of the things stated about her.

According to BBC, Trump's lawsuit stated, "Melania has a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...

to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which [she] is one of the most photographed women in the world".

Statement from Trump's attorney

According to the New York Times, Melania's attorney, Charles Harder confirmed the settlement in a statement.

He said,"The legal actions concerned allegations published in late August 2016 questioning the nature of work undertaken by Mrs. Trump in the 1990s when she worked as a professional model and republished the allegations that she provided services beyond simple modeling."

According to the attorney, the August 2016 article also alleged that Donald and Melania met three years before they claim, suggesting that she was "his call girl."

You can see how that could be damaging to her reputation.

The magazine admitted that the allegations were not true, and they hope to Mrs. Trump will forgive them for the inflammatory article.

The Daily Mail only retracted part of the story

The publication admitted that Melania never worked as an escort, but stood by the claim the first lady initially met Trump in 1995, not in 1998 at Fashion Week as they claim.

In Melania Trump's eyes, this case is closed, and she accepted The Daily Mail's apology for publishing to the damaging story.

Do you think The Daily Mail will think twice before posting a fake story about someone else?

Did you believe the scoop that Melania Trump was an escort?

The Daily Mail stated they would publish the details of the settlement and the retraction in the US and UK online versions. They will pay $2.9 million in damages, plus pay Mrs. Trump's legal fees.
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