New York, Dec 15 : US President-elect Donald Trump has won a $15 million settlement in a defamation case against ABC News TV and its star anchor George Stephanopoulos, who had accused him of raping a woman.

The settlement was announced Saturday noon, days before lawyers were to question both Trump and Stephanopoulos and it ended the case.

The case hinged on a thin legal distinction between "rape" and "sexual abuse" because Stephanopoulos had said that Trump had raped a woman while a jury in a civil case had only found that he had sexually abused the woman.

It was a rare victory for Trump because US laws make it difficult for public figures to win libel or defamation cases.

Unlike in countries following British legal standards, in the US making a false statement about a public figure is not enough for a conviction.

It has to be proved that it was done with malicious intent against the person defamed or libeled.

Trump has lost cases against The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and other media because of the tough standards.

In this case, ABC settled before a court verdict.

An ABC spokesperson confirmed the settlement saying, "We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing."

There was no immediate reaction from Trump who was at an American football game between the Navy and Army academies when the settlement became public.

ABC and Stephanopoulos also agreed to express regret for the statement he made and post it on the ABC website with the original story.