President Donald Trump said Friday he will move forward with a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the publicly funded outlet of defaming him by manipulating a key portion of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech in a documentary.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he expects the suit to be filed “probably sometime next week,” saying the BBC’s conduct was so severe that damages could range “anywhere between a billion and 5 billion dollars.”
His comments were first reported in the U.S. by Reuters correspondent Nandita Bose, who spoke with the president during the flight, and in the U.K. by BBC political reporters traveling with him.
Trump said he intends to raise the issue directly with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during discussions planned for the weekend.
According to Trump, the BBC’s edit of his Jan. 6 remarks falsely conveyed that he issued a direct call for violent action. The president said the broadcaster’s explanation does not come close to addressing the damage caused.
The BBC acknowledged on Friday that its edit created “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.”
In a statement distributed through its press office and reported by the BBC News domestic service, the outlet said it “regrets the error” and issued a personal apology to Trump.
But the corporation insisted that it sees “no legal basis for a lawsuit,” according to Reuters reporting. The BBC said it would not offer financial compensation and would not retract the original program beyond the correction already issued.
Trump’s legal team had given the BBC until 5 p.m. Eastern time Friday to retract the segment, issue a formal apology, and pay damages of at least $1 billion.
That demand was detailed in a letter from his attorneys obtained earlier in the week by U.S. and British news outlets, including The Daily Telegraph and The Times, both of which cited sources close to the Trump legal team.
After receiving the BBC’s written response, Trump’s advisers said the corporation’s position left the president with no choice but to sue. According to senior campaign officials, the matter has been under review for several days by lawyers preparing filings in federal and state courts in Florida.
The BBC’s handling of the “Panorama” segment has already triggered a leadership crisis inside the organization.
According to BBC internal announcements confirmed by the network’s own newsroom correspondents, Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday, acknowledging that the incident undermined confidence in the broadcaster’s editorial standards.
Trump said those resignations underscore the seriousness of the misconduct and strengthen his case for damages.
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