Donald Trump threatens to sue the BBC for $1 billion
Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion regarding the editing of a Panorama documentary.
The film, titled Trump: A Second Chance?, contained an edited version of a speech that Trump delivered on January 6th, 2021, which his legal team have labelled as “malicious” and “disparaging”.
Per The New York Times, who has obtained the letter sent by Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, they are requesting a retraction of the documentary, an apology and for the broadcaster to “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused”.
The letter reads: “If the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, 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. The BBC is on notice.”
It concluded: “PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.”
The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, said of the editing incident in a letter that was published on November 10th, “With hindsight, it would have been better to take more formal action.” He also admitted, “We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgment.”
On November 9th, the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and head of news, Deborah Turness, both tendered their resignations amid pressure over the broadcaster’s editing in the documentary.
Trump has also reacted to the news on Truth Social, writing, “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, “Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt ‘Journalists.’ 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!”
Trump: A Second Chance? has since been removed from the BBC’s iPlayer service.
The BBC has confirmed that it has received the letter from Trump’s lawyers and will respond “in due course”.
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