Melania Trump ‘has no intention’ of profiting from public position, representatives say
A day after Melania Trump filed a lawsuit accusing a British news company of hurting her ability to build a profitable brand, her representatives issued statements saying that the first lady “has no intention” of using her public position for personal gain.
“It is not a possibility,” said statements issued simultaneously Tuesday by a spokeswoman for Melania Trump and a law firm representing her. “Any statements to the contrary are being misinterpreted.”
The lawsuit filed Monday in New York Supreme Court says that the first lady’s ability to sell “Melania” brand jewelry and other goods had been damaged at a critical time by a defamatory news story.
The suit alleges that an article published in August falsely claimed that she once worked for an escort service and that the assertion had hurt her ability to build “multimillion dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world.”
The suit against Mail Media, the owner of the Daily Mail, says the article caused Trump’s brand to lose “major business opportunities.”
The complaint said the article had damaged her “unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to “launch a broad-based commercial brand” during this period.
Neither the lawyer who filed the suit, Charles Harder of Beverly Hills, Calif., nor the White House responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit did not detail a specific plan by Trump to market products during her tenure as first lady, but it said her reputation has suffered while she is experiencing a “multi-year term” of elevated publicity….