Trump tells BBC – grovel or I’ll sue you for $1bn: Meltdown at Broadcasting House as president gives Friday deadline for Panorama apology, retraction and compensation

Donald Trump last night threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion unless it issues a vile apology within a few days.

The US President’s lawyers have put the BBC ‘on notice’ as the embattled national broadcaster admits it made an ‘error of judgment’ when altering footage of a 2021 speech by Mr Trump.

In a scathing letter by Friday night, they demanded a full retraction, immediate apology and offer of compensation for the ‘fabricated portrayal of President Trump’.

The move marks a major escalation in an already unprecedented crisis for the BBC after an impartiality row damaged the scalps of director general Tim Davie and news director Deborah Turness on Sunday night.

The outrage erupted last week when it was revealed that Panorama had published a misleading edit of Mr. Trump in the hours before the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill insurrection that appeared to openly encourage violence.

Yesterday BBC chief Samir Shah admitted he had made an ‘error of judgement’ regarding the edit, but rejected claims of systemic bias and refrained from directly apologizing to Mr Trump.

He confirmed that he had been briefed by the president’s legal team and was considering a formal apology.

‘But he is a litigious man. “Therefore, we must be prepared for any outcome,” he added. A BBC spokesman said it would ‘review the letter and respond directly in due course’.

Yesterday, BBC chief Samir Shah (above) admitted he made an ‘error of judgement’ regarding editing, but rejected claims of systemic bias and refrained from directly apologizing to Mr Trump

In the legal letter, Mr Trump’s lawyer Alejandro Brito demands the immediate retraction of ‘false, defamatory, derogatory and inflammatory statements’ made about the President.

The letter warns: ‘Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no option but to pursue all available legal rights and remedies to recover damages for the huge financial and reputational loss inflicted on him by the BBC.’

If the BBC does not respond by the looming deadline, Mr Trump “will have no choice but to exercise his legal and equitable rights, including taking legal action for damages of not less than $1,000,000,000 (£760 million),” the letter states.

The correspondence dated 9 November clearly concludes: ‘BBC issues warning. PLEASE MANAGE YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.’

A spokesman for Mr Trump’s legal team said: ‘The BBC defamed President Trump by deliberately and deceptively editing his documentary in an attempt to interfere with the presidential election.

‘President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in lies, deception and fake news.’

Other developments from yesterday:

• A civil war broke out between the BBC board and its news operation over an impartiality dispute with fingers crossed on both sides;
• There were suggestions that it would take as long as nine months to find Mr Davie’s replacement, but he is said to have had ‘had enough’ and will seek to give up the role as soon as possible;
• The BBC was also alert to possible further resignations as critics called for executives to be sacked;
• Downing Street acknowledged mistakes were made but backed the company despite growing calls for the license fee to be scrapped.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he spoke to Mr Trump about the scandal on Friday and the President was ‘absolutely furious’ when concerns about the clip first emerged in a leaked document. ‘He said to me: ‘Is this how you treat your best ally?’ he said.

Mr Farage said the broadcast of Panorama documentary Trump: Second Chance? in the week before the US went to the polls amounted to ‘election interference’ by the BBC.

He added that Mr Trump was ‘in stitches on the eve of a national election’.

Director-general Tim Davie left the BBC on Sunday after five years in the corporation’s most senior role

The threat of legal action is likely to put further pressure on the company, which was labeled ‘corrupt’ and ‘dishonest’ by the President following his shocking double resignation on Sunday night.

But a defiant Ms Turness defended the company and her colleagues against the allegations.

‘Of course our journalists are not corrupt. “Our journalists are hard-working people who strive for impartiality and I will stand behind their journalism,” he said as he arrived for work yesterday.

‘I resigned at the weekend because the responsibility remains with me. But I want to make one thing very clear: BBC News is not institutionally biased.’

Downing Street also appeared to rally around him, insisting the BBC was not corrupt or institutionally biased.

In a blistering legal letter, Mr Trump’s lawyers accused the BBC of “reckless disregard for the truth” and said the doctored clip was “broadcast to deliberately defame President Trump”.

It was stated that the broadcast ‘maliciously’ altered what Mr Trump said an hour later by ‘editing footage from the beginning of the speech with a separate quote’.

He also accused the BBC of deliberately broadcasting Trump saying he expected people to ‘peacefully and patriotically march to the Capitol to make your voices heard’.

‘The timing of the made-up documentary is obvious. ‘The BBC’s reckless disregard for the truth, given the obvious falseness of the statements, underscores the real evil behind the decision to broadcast false content,’ the letter says.

It was stated that “tens of millions of people around the world” watched the “fabricated statement” published on various platforms of the BBC.

‘As a result, the BBC has caused President Trump major financial and reputational losses.’

The letter, which lists Mr Trump’s demands, says the BBC must immediately and completely withdraw “the documentary and all other false, defamatory, derogatory, misleading and inflammatory statements about President Trump as blatant as when they were first broadcast”.

His third and final demand is that the BBC should ‘appropriately compensate President Trump for the damage caused’.

A leaked memo from former editorial adviser Michael Prescott last week raised concerns about doctoring Mr Trump’s speech and the BBC’s reporting on trans issues and Gaza.

Putting together several clips revealed Mr Trump telling supporters he would march with them to the US Capitol to ‘fight like hell’.

Mr Shah said more than 500 complaints had been received since the leaked memo was published, adding: ‘We accept that the way the speech was edited gave the impression of a direct call for violent action.’

But the president attacked the author of the critical dossier, accusing Mr Prescott of making a ‘personal statement’ that gave only a ‘partial’ view of events.