US president makes first remarks since his lawyers wrote to the broadcaster, threatening a $1bn lawsuit
Donald Trump said he has an “obligation” to sue BBC for misrepresenting his comments ahead of the 6 January 2021 attacks on the US Capitol.
“Well, I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t allow people to do that,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in an interview.
“I guess I have to, why not?”
Trump claimed the way his speech had been presented had “defrauded the public”.
“This is within one of our … supposedly, great allies. That’s a pretty sad event,” he said.
The US president’s remarks are his first public comments on the matter since his lawyers wrote to the broadcaster, threatening a $1bn lawsuit.
It came after a report from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, raised concerns over the editing of Trump’s speech.
The legal letter, from Trump’s lawyer Alejandro Brito, demands that “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” made about the US president be retracted immediately.
He plans to issue the proceedings under Florida law.
Trump’s comments come after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the BBC must “renew its mission for the modern age” and warned MPs attacking the broadcaster to “consider just what is at stake”.
The BBC’s charter expires at the end of 2027 and the process of reviewing it is now set to begin, as the organisation finds itself at the centre of a storm following the resignations of Director General Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, who quit as chief executive of BBC News.
Nandy said it would ensure a BBC which is “fiercely independent” and “genuinely accountable” to the public it serves.
She told the Commons on Tuesday: “There is a fundamental difference between raising serious concerns over editorial failings and members of this House launching a sustained attack on the institution itself, because the BBC is not just a broadcaster, it is a national institution that belongs to us all.”
Legal experts wade in
Meanwhile, legal experts have said that lawyers for the US president would have to prove the broadcast caused his reputation serious harm, and suggested that it may even be too late to bring a claim at the High Court in London.
International media lawyer Mark Stephens said a victory for Trump is far from assured if he brings action against the BBC.
Trump must prove that he suffered serious financial and reputational damage as a result of the Panorama interview edit.
But the programme, which aired in October 2024, wasn’t shown in the US, nor is BBC iPlayer available there.
Mr Stephens told Sky News: “It is impossible as a matter of law to see how his reputation could be harmed in America by something that didn’t occur in America.
“Laying the wreckage of 6 January at Panorama’s door is probably a bit of a stretch, even in America.”
Daniel Astaire, managing partner at Grosvenor Law, told the PA news agency: “The key factor is whether the reasonable viewer would believe the video to be true and not realise it has been falsified – the meaning of the statement, as conveyed by the video, will be crucial in determining whether it is defamatory.
“The creation of a doctored video could pave the way for malicious falsehood, if the video contains false statements that result in quantifiable financial loss.
“If Trump pursues this, he must establish that the creation of the video was done maliciously.”
He added that the usual time limit for lodging a defamation claim is one year.
Tom Rudkin, partner at Farrer & Co, said: “The starting point, given the Panorama episode was first broadcast in October, is that the claim would be out of time as the limitation period is one year.”
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Iain Wilson, managing partner at Brett Wilson LLP, said: “He would almost certainly be out of time.
“Under English law, defamation claims must be brought within one year of the date of publication or broadcast.”
