US president says he will sue the corporation for ‘anywhere between a billion and $5bn’
US president says he will sue the corporation for ‘anywhere between a billion and $5bn’
Donald Trump has said he still plans to sue the BBC despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading edit of one of his speeches.
The row, over an episode of Panorama from last year about the Capitol riot in 2021, led to accusations of bias at the broadcaster and the resignation of two of the most senior executives at the BBC: the director general, Tim Davie; and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of news.
The US president previously said he would take legal action if he did not get an apology but on Friday evening Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One: “We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion and $5bn, probably sometime next week. We have to do it.”
The BBC sent an apology to Trump on Thursday but said there was no legal basis for him to sue the public broadcaster over a documentary his lawyers called defamatory.
The corporation rejected his demands for compensation after lawyers for Trump threatened to sue for $1bn (£760m) in damages unless the BBC issued a retraction, apologised and settled with him.
The BBC has also agreed not to show the edition of Panorama again.
Trump said he had not spoken to the British prime minister, Keir Starmer – with whom he has built a solid relationship – about the issue, but that he planned to call him this weekend.
