President Donald Trump said Friday that he intends to sue the BBC over the way an excerpt of his January 6, 2021, speech was edited in a Panorama investigative documentary.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed the edit was defamatory and said he expects to file a lawsuit next week. He suggested potential damages in the range of $1 billion to $5 billion and added that he may discuss the matter with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the weekend, according to BBC News.
In a statement Thursday, a BBC spokesperson confirmed the broadcaster’s lawyers had responded to Trump’s legal team and said BBC chair Samir Shah had also written directly to the White House. The spokesperson said the corporation apologized for the edit and expressed regret over how the clip was presented.
The BBC also said it does not plan to rebroadcast the documentary on any of its platforms. While acknowledging the mistake, the broadcaster argued there is no legal basis for a defamation claim.
The dispute centers on a Panorama episode that used footage from Trump’s pre-Capitol attack address. Critics of the documentary say the program left out Trump’s call for supporters to protest peacefully and combined remarks delivered roughly an hour apart, creating the impression of a single continuous statement. The BBC said Friday that the edit unintentionally gave viewers the wrong impression that Trump was directly urging violence.
Trump had previously warned he would sue unless the BBC retracted what he described as false and inflammatory claims.
The controversy has already led to leadership shakeups at the broadcaster. BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC director-general Tim Davie both resigned. Turness, speaking outside BBC headquarters earlier this week, said she stepped down because responsibility ultimately fell to her, but insisted the newsroom is not institutionally biased. She defended BBC journalists as committed to impartial reporting while acknowledging that errors can occur.Thinking
