‘Once in a Lifetime Opportunity’: Melania Trump Lawsuit Suggests She Wanted to Profit From Being First Lady

First Lady Suing for $150 Million

Court documents filed by an attorney for Melania Trump suggest she wanted to profit financially from being the First Lady. Trump is suing the company that publishes the Daily Mail after an article the news site published suggested she had once worked as an escort. The Daily Mail later published a retraction.

But court documents state the article has prevented her from a “unique once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity as “one of the most photographed women in the world” to “launch a broad-based commercial brand” that would sell “apparel accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care and fragrance,” as The Washington Post reports.

The suit goes on to claim Trump has been prevented from “major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her,” of “significant value.”

The Post reports Trump’s suit, while not detailing any specific commercial plan, charges the Daily Mail article “impugned her fitness to perform her duties as First Lady of the United States.”

Former President George W. Bush White House ethics counsel Richard Painter told the Post, “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 is “participating in a lawsuit claiming that President Trump’s relationship with his company violates a constitutional provision barring presidents from taking money or gifts from foreign governments.”

On social media, many attacked the First Lady, noting the outrage and backlash that would have ensued had the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, ever tried a similar commercial venture.

 

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Image by Disney | ABC Television Group via Flickr and a CC license