Melania Trump Files Lawsuit, Says She Lost ‘Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity’ to Make Millions

Prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration, unpleasant details about the Trumps were uncovered as their media presence increased. Some stories, labeled as fake news, attacked Trump’s morality. While others, accompanied by video footage and auditory evidence, exposed Trump’s offensive/derogatory nature. The icing on the cake didn’t come from a story about Trump, but his wife Melania.

Back in August, Daily Mail published a story alleging she once worked for an escort service. As a result, a lawyer for Melania has filed a lawsuit, claiming the article hurt her chance to make millions during her husband’s presidency.

The suit, filed on Monday in Manhattan, said the article hurt Melania’s chance to establish “multimillion dollar business relationships, during the Trump presidency, as she would be one of the most photographed women in the world.” The suit says the Daily Mail article caused Melania’s brand to lose “significant value” as well as “major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her” and damaged her “unique, once in a lifetime opportunity” to “launch a broad-based commercial brand.”

The lawsuit comes a few days after two big-name department stores chose to drop Ivanka Trump’s line in the wake of Trump’s controversial views and executive orders.

The suit continues, detailing the products Melania would have been able to capitalize on if it weren’t for Daily Mail. “These product categories would have included, among other things, apparel accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care and fragrance,” the suit read, adding that the article “impugned her fitness to perform her duties as First Lady of the United States.”

According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit has raised a few questions, especially after former ethics counsel members advised against Trump retaining ownership of his real estate and branding empire while in the Oval Office, as it could compromise his decisions as Head of State and violates the constitution. Which we have seen with the controversial #MuslimBan, after Trump failed to ban countries where he had business ties.

 On Monday, Richard Painter, former ethics counsel, said he was troubled by the suit’s suggestion that Melania intended to profit off of her role as first lady.

“There has never been a first lady of the United States who insinuated that she intended to make a lot of money because of the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity of being first lady,” Painter said.