Melania Trump, the wife of US President Donald Trump, leaving the President's Room of the Senate, at the Capitol on January 20. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool LONDON — Melania Trump, the US first lady, is seeking $150 million (£121.2 million) in damages in a defamation case against Mail Online, claiming the publication has undermined a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to "launch a broad-based commercial brand."

Trump filed a suit against the Mail in September but refiled the case in New York on Monday.

The first lady's suit says she is seeking damages for a false report on the website last August that she worked as an "elite escort" during her time as a model in New York in the 1990s.

Her lawyers argue that the report, which was later retracted, has meant that Trump's "brand has lost significant value, and major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her have been lost and/or significantly impacted."

The case says Trump "had the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, 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 Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world."

It adds that "these product categories would have included, among other things, apparel, accessories, shoes, jewellery, cosmetics, hair care, skin care, and fragrance."

Her lawyers conclude that the Mail's report, which spread across social media and blogs, "caused tremendous harm to [Trump's] personal and professional reputation, for which she seeks compensatory and punitive damages of $150 million."

Trump's lawyers are calling for the case to be heard before a jury. Read the full filing, from a New York state court, below:

The first lady also pursued action against a Maryland blogger who also published the false escort story. Trump reached a settlement with the blogger on Thursday, according to Hollywood Reporter senior editor Eriq Gardner.