The President has put the BBC ‘on notice’ that he is planning a billion-dollar lawsuit against the corporation
President Trump says he will sue the BBC for $1 billion if he is not compensated after the corporation was accused of doctoring a speech he made on the day of the January 6 Capitol Riot.
Mr Trump issued three demands as part of the ultimatum, calling on the BBC to issue a full and fair retraction, apologise and ‘appropriately compensate’ him ‘for the harm caused’ by the edited clip of his speech that was aired on Panorama.
A letter sent to BBC Chairman Samir Shah by Trump’s legal team states: “President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages.
“Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide.
“Consequently, the BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm.” Mr Trump’s lawyer Alejandro Brito said: “The BBC is on notice.”
The US President slammed the broadcaster after the BBC’s Panorama programme was found to have spliced together two parts of one of his speeches.
The footage made it appear as though the US President was explicitly encouraged the riot inside the US Capitol while lawmakers were meeting to certify the 2020 election results.
The Corporation has faced a furious backlash over the decision, with BBC Chair Samir Shah issuing Trump an apology for an “error of judgement” after BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resigned from their roles.
The edit was made public following a leaked memo written by ex-BBC adviser Michael Prescott, which criticised the 2024 Panorama programme about American leader.
Mr Prescott’s wide-ranging memo also criticised other areas of the BBC News coverage and was sent in “despair at inaction by the BBC Executive”.
Amid the scandal, a senior White House official has suggested that they are considered blacklisting BBC reporters from briefings.
“The White House may consider restricting the BBC’s access to open press events due to their admission of falsely doctoring President Trump’s words,” the official told The Telegraph.
Mr Shah said there have been more than 500 complaints since the publication of the memo that raised concerns about the editing of the speech by Donald Trump, adding: “We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action.”
The BBC boss continued: “I am absolutely clear that the BBC must champion impartiality. It is more necessary now than ever before.”
He said the corporation would need to “hold the highest standards in all our content – video, audio and online.”
The BBC has confirmed it has received Mr Trump’s letter and will respond in due course.
Trump’s legal action threat comes after Nigel Farage told LBC this morning that the BBC had “deeply offended the leader of the free world.”
Mr Farage went on to say the BBC “has been institutionally biased for decades.”
“If the BBC doesn’t now get a grip, get somebody in from the outside, somebody who has got a history and a culture of changing organisations, of turning them around, then I think what you would see within the next couple of years are many, many millions just refusing, just not wanting to have the license fee,” he added.
BBC Chair Samir Shah apologised after Donald Trump’s speech was edited, calling it an ‘error of judgement’. Picture: Alamy
Speaking for the first time since stepping down on Sunday, the corporation’s former news chief dismissed accusations of “institutional bias” – as she hit back at Trump’s comments on the subject.
Responding outside Broadcasting House, Ms Turness said: “I’d like to make one thing very clear, BBC News is not institutionally biased.”
Hitting back at claims made by the US President that the organisation is “corrupt,” she insisted “of course our journalists aren’t corrupt”.
“I would like to say it has been the privilege of my career to serve as the CEO of BBC News and to work with our brilliant team of journalists,” she added.
Following Mr Davie’s resignation, several Conservative and Reform MPs have joined the American leader is calling for reset at the broadcaster, with Mr Farage accusing the disgraced BBC chief of “double standards” over his handling of the crisis.
The footage, edited as part of the documentary, saw the President call on his supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
Taking to Truth Social the President said: “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.”
He continued: “These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”
Karoline Leavitt, Mr Trump’s press secretary, also slammed the BBC in a recent tweet.
She shared screenshots of her interview with the Telegraph, where she dubbed the BBC a “leftist propaganda machine”, alongside another screenshot of Mr Davie announcing his departure.
