‘For $5 billion’: Trump to sue BBC over documentary edit on 2021 Capitol riots

BBC stood firm that it would not pay any damages.

“We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion and five billion dollars, probably some time next week. I think I have to do it. They’ve even admitted that they cheated,” news agency AFP quoted Trump as saying aboard Air Force One.

A heated feud broke between the President and the broadcaster after the the latter rejected his claims of defamation. Trump did not agree to give up on the matter, even after the departure of top BBC executives and as the controversy threatens to become a strain on ties with London.

Trump had earlier said that he would be suing BBC for for $1 billion, an already enormous sum that represents 13 per cent of the organization’s annual revenue, which is mostly funded by a license fee paid by the British public, according to the AFP report.

What caused the scuffle?

BBC ended up in turmoil after an edited clip from its flagship news program Panorama that had aired before the 2024 presidential elections, resurfaced last week. On Monday, the BBC apologized over its editing.

“The people of the UK are very angry about what happened, as you can imagine, because it shows the BBC is fake news,” Trump said on Friday adding that he would address the issue to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who backed the broadcaster’s independence while avoiding taking sides against Trump.

“I’m going to call him over the weekend. He actually put a call into me. He’s very embarrassed,” the President said.

In an interview with UK channel GB News broadcast on Friday, Trump said he had an obligation to pursue legal action.

“This was so egregious,” he said as he spoke of the particular edit.

“If you don’t do it, you don’t stop it from happening again with other people,” the President added.

BBC bearing the brunt

BBC on Monday received a letter from President Trump, which accused the organisation of defaming him and gave it a deadline till Friday to issue an apology and pay compensation.

On Thursday, BBC said that its chairman Samir Shah had sent “a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech,” which added that the organisation sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited and strongly disagrees there is a basis for a defamation claim.

In Britain, the controversy reignited a heated debate on the operations and impartiality of public broadcasting, as the organization has already been shaken in recent years by several scandals.

Not the right time for BBC

The firestorm over the video edit has led the BBC director-general and the organization’s top news executive to resign.

The accusation comes at a politically sensitive time for the BBC, which is due to renegotiate the Royal Charter that outlines the corporation’s governance. Its current charter will end in 2027.

BBC confirmed that investigations are underway for another edit of Trump’s speech from the day of the Capitol riots, which had aired in June 2022 on the the organisation’s ‘Newsnight’ program.