Trump Signals Major Lawsuit After BBC Admits Faulty Speech Editing

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he intends to file a lawsuit against the BBC, saying he could seek up to $5 billion in damages. 

His statement followed the broadcaster’s admission that it improperly edited footage from one of his speeches — though the BBC maintains that the incident does not provide grounds for legal action.

The controversy comes at a tumultuous moment for the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is confronting its most severe crisis in decades. 

Two top executives have stepped down amid widening allegations of editorial bias, intensified by criticism surrounding the altered recording of Trump’s January 6, 2021 address, delivered on the day a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s lawyers had initially set a Friday deadline for the BBC to retract its documentary or face a lawsuit for “no less” than $1 billion. 

They also demanded an apology and compensation for what they called “overwhelming reputational and financial harm,” according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The BBC, which has admitted its editing of Trump’s remarks was an “error of judgement,” sent a personal apology to Trump on Thursday but said it would not rebroadcast the documentary and rejected the defamation claim.

“We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to Florida for the weekend.

“I think I have to do that, I mean they’ve even admitted that they cheated,” he said. “They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”

Reuters