SAEDNEWS: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would likely sue the BBC next week for as much as $5 billion after the British broadcaster admitted it wrongly edited a video of a speech he gave but insisted there was no legal basis for his claim.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is facing its biggest crisis in decades after two senior leaders resigned over accusations of bias, including editing former President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech during the Capitol riot.
Trump’s lawyers had initially set a Friday deadline for the BBC to retract its documentary or face a lawsuit for at least $1 billion. They also demanded an apology and compensation for what they described as “overwhelming reputational and financial harm,” according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The BBC acknowledged that editing Trump’s remarks was an “error of judgment” and sent a personal apology to Trump on Thursday. However, it said it would not rebroadcast the documentary and rejected the defamation claim.
“We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Florida. “They’ve even admitted that they cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
Trump said he had not yet discussed the issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer but planned to call him over the weekend. He added that Starmer, who had tried to reach him, was “very embarrassed” by the incident.
The documentary, aired on the BBC’s flagship program Panorama, combined three video excerpts from Trump’s speech, creating the impression he was inciting the January 6 riot. His lawyers called this “false and defamatory.”
In an interview with GB News, Trump said the edit was “impossible to believe” and likened it to election interference. “I made a beautiful statement, and they made it into a not beautiful statement,” he said. “Fake news was a great term, but it’s not strong enough. This is beyond fake, this is corrupt.”
Trump added that the BBC’s apology was insufficient. “They clipped together two parts of the speech nearly an hour apart. It’s incredible to suggest I gave an aggressive speech that led to riots. One part made me look bad, the other was a very calming statement.”
BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a personal apology to the White House on Thursday and described the edit as “an error of judgment.” British culture minister Lisa Nandy said the apology was “right and necessary.”
The BBC said it had no plans to rebroadcast the documentary and is investigating further editing concerns on another program, Newsnight.
The controversy has triggered the broadcaster’s most serious crisis in decades. Director-General Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resigned this week amid allegations of bias and editing failures.
Starmer told parliament he supported a “strong and independent BBC” but said it must “get its house in order.” He added, pointing at opposition Conservatives: “Some would rather the BBC didn’t exist. I’m not one of them. In an age of disinformation, the argument for an impartial British news service is stronger than ever.”
Founded in 1922 and funded mainly by a compulsory license fee, the BBC now faces scrutiny over whether public money could be used to settle Trump’s claim. Former media minister John Whittingdale warned there would be “real anger” if license payers’ money covered damages.
