Trump says he will sue BBC for at least $1bn over Panorama edit
US President Donald Trump said he will take legal action against the BBC next week over how his speech was edited by Panorama, after the BBC apologized but refused to pay compensation.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday evening, Trump said: “We’ll probably be suing them for $1 billion to $5 billion next week.”
On Friday, the BBC said the editing of the January 6, 2021 speech inadvertently gave the “incorrect impression that President Trump was directly calling for violent action.”
The BBC apologized but said it would not pay financial compensation.
Trump said he would discuss the issue with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend.
Earlier this week, Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion in damages if the BBC did not step back, apologize and pay him compensation.
Trump’s lawyers had given the BBC a 10pm GMT (5pm EST) deadline on Friday, November 14 to respond, which the BBC did.
The row led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness on Sunday.
Previous searches of public court records databases revealed that no legal action has been taken so far.
Federal and state courts in Florida where lawsuits are likely to be filed are closed for the weekend.
According to Pacer’s searches for federal lawsuits involving the BBC, no lawsuits have been filed by the Trump administration.
This is breaking news and will be updated shortly.
