British newspaper apologises to Melania Trump over article, pays substantial damages

LONDON: Britain's Telegraph newspaper has apologised and paid "substantial damages" to US First Lady Melania Trump after publishing an article it says contains many false statements.

The newspaper said Saturday it apologises "unreservedly" for the content of a cover story published on Jan. 19 in the newspaper's weekly magazine supplement.

"As a mark of our regret we have agreed to pay Mrs Trump substantial damages as well as her legal costs," The Telegraph said.

The paper said it falsely charactersed Mrs Trump's father's personality, falsely reported the reasons she left an architecture programme, and falsely reported her career as a model was unsuccessful before she met Donald Trump.

The Telegraph is one of Britain's leading broadsheet newspapers and is traditionally aligned with the Conservative Party.

Associated Press