US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is likely to sue the BBC for up to $5 billion, following the British broadcaster’s admission that it wrongly edited a video of a speech he gave. Trump said the lawsuit could be filed as early as next week, claiming the edits caused “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.” Speaking aboard Air Force One, he said, “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1bn and $5bn… They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
The controversy stems from a BBC Panorama documentary that aired footage of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, which appeared to suggest he was inciting the Capitol riot. Trump’s lawyers argued that the documentary spliced together video excerpts from different parts of the speech, nearly an hour apart, creating a false impression of his remarks. They demanded a retraction, an apology, and at least $1 billion in compensation, warning that legal action would follow if the BBC did not comply.
The BBC admitted the edits were an “error of judgement” and issued a personal apology to Trump on Thursday. However, the broadcaster rejected his defamation claim and said it would not rebroadcast the documentary. British culture minister Lisa Nandy described the apology as “right and necessary,” and BBC Chair Samir Shah emphasized that the error was unintentional.
Trump criticized the BBC’s apology as insufficient, describing the edits as “beyond fake… this is corrupt.” In an interview with GB News, he argued that the edited footage distorted his original speech, turning “a beautiful statement” into something “not beautiful” and implying that he had incited violence. Trump said he had not yet spoken with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer but planned to call him over the weekend. He added that Starmer had expressed embarrassment over the incident.
The scandal has triggered the BBC’s most significant crisis in decades. Two senior leaders — Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness — resigned amid mounting allegations of bias and mismanagement. Starmer told Parliament he supports a “strong and independent BBC” but stressed that the broadcaster “must get its house in order.” He defended the BBC’s role as an impartial news source in an era of disinformation, despite criticism from some Conservative lawmakers.
The incident has also sparked debate over whether public funds, collected through the BBC licence fee, could be used to settle Trump’s claim. Former media minister John Whittingdale warned of “real anger” if taxpayer money were used to cover any potential damages. Meanwhile, the BBC has launched a broader investigation into its editing practices, including scrutiny of the Newsnight programme, raising questions about journalistic standards at the publicly funded broadcaster.
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