US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is likely to sue the BBC next week for up to $5 billion. This comes after the British broadcaster admitted it wrongly edited a video of a speech Trump gave but rejected the legal basis for his claim, according to Reuters report.
The BBC has faced its biggest crisis in decades after two senior leaders resigned over accusations of bias, including the editing of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech, when his supporters stormed the US Capitol.
Trump’s lawyers had given the BBC a Friday deadline to retract its documentary or face a lawsuit of “no less” than $1 billion. They also demanded an apology and compensation for what they called “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.”
The BBC acknowledged the editing of Trump’s remarks was an “error of judgement” and sent a personal apology to the president on Thursday. However, it said it would not rebroadcast the documentary and rejected the defamation claim.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the lawsuit would likely be for between $1 billion and $5 billion. “I think I have to do that. They changed the words coming out of my mouth,” he said.
Trump also said he had not yet spoken with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the issue, though he planned to call him over the weekend. He added that Starmer had tried to reach him and was “very embarrassed” by the incident.
The BBC documentary, which aired on its flagship program “Panorama,” spliced together three excerpts from Trump’s speech, creating the impression he was inciting the January 6 riot. Trump’s lawyers called this “false and defamatory.”
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Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
