As a fresh political week kicks off in both Washington and London, US President Donald Trump says he is moving ahead with legal action against the BBC, despite the broadcaster issuing what it described as a personal apology over an incorrectly edited clip of one of his speeches.
According to The Guardian, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday evening that legal action will be initiated, likely next week, with a claim for damages between $1 billion and $5 billion.
His announcement came only a day after the BBC admitted its 2021 edit of a Panorama segment gave what it called ‘the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.’ The corporation confirmed the clip would not be aired again.
Although Trump insists litigation is imminent, a search of public court databases showed no case had yet been filed, according to the BBC.
His legal team previously demanded $1bn in damages unless the broadcaster retracted the clip, issued an apology and agreed to a settlement.
The BBC did apologise, but made it clear it would not offer compensation. In the statement, the corporation said the edit was a mistake but emphasised that there was no legal basis for damages.
The chair, Samir Shah, described the incident as ‘an error of judgment,’ a position later backed by UK culture minister Lisa Nandy, who said the apology was ‘right and necessary.’
The disputed edit combined two lines from Trump’s speech on 6 January 2021, delivered almost an hour apart, creating the impression that he had told supporters, ‘We fight. We fight like hell,‘ in immediate connection with walking down to the Capitol.
Trump described the edit as ‘impossible to believe’ and argued: ‘I made a beautiful statement, and they made it into a not beautiful statement.’
He went further, telling GB News the edit was ‘beyond fake, this is corrupt.’
The dust-up lands during a sensitive moment for the broadcaster, which is still managing the fallout from the resignations of Director General Tim Davie and BBC News chief Deborah Turness, departures also linked to the Panorama controversy.
Trump said he had not yet discussed the matter with UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, although he plans to call him over the weekend. While Starmer has not publicly weighed in, Trump reiterated that the prime minister requested a meeting with him.
The president compared the BBC dispute to his earlier clash with CBS over its 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, describing the BBC edit as ‘egregious’ and ‘worse than the Kamala thing.’
Paramount Global, which owns CBS, recently agreed to a $16m settlement in that case, a detail confirmed by the BBC.
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