The BBC is awaiting a response from Donald Trump, after the corporation apologised for the editing of a speech by the US president which appeared on Panorama in 2024.
The corporation said the splicing of the speech was an âerror of judgmentâ but rejected his demands for compensation, after Mr Trumpâs lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for one billion dollars in damages unless a retraction and apology was published.
Earlier in the week Mr Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the BBC had âdefrauded the publicâ over the edit, which made it appear as if he was explicitly urging people to attack the US Capitol on January 6 2021.
Chairman Samir Shah has sent a personal letter to the White House to apologise for the editing, and lawyers for the corporation have written to the presidentâs legal team, a BBC spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: âWhile the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.â
The broadcaster said it will not air the Panorama episode Trump: A Second Chance? again, and published a retraction on the showâs webpage on Thursday.
It said: âThis programme was reviewed after criticism of how President Donald Trumpâs 6th January 2021 speech was edited.
âDuring that sequence, we showed excerpts taken from different parts of the speech.
âHowever, we accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.
âThe BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for that error of judgment.â
The spokesperson added: âThe BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary Trump: A Second Chance? on any BBC platforms.â
The apology follows reports that the BBC faced accusations of misleading viewers about Mr Trumpâs US Capitol speech more than two years before the controversial Panorama edit aired.
In an episode broadcast in June 2022, Newsnight reportedly played an edit of his speech which was similar to the one used in the Panorama programme.
A BBC spokesperson said about the fresh claims, reported by The Telegraphâs Daily T podcast: âThe BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards. This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.â
The Panorama scandal has seen two of the BBCâs most senior executives, director-general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness, quit in response.
The programme, which was broadcast a week before the results of the US election in 2024, splices two clips together so that Mr Trump is seen telling the crowd: âWeâre going to walk down to the Capitol⌠and Iâll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.â
On Monday, Mr Shah issued an apology from the corporation over the âerror of judgmentâ in the editing of the speech for the Panorama episode.
Responding to a letter from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Shah said that there had been more than 500 complaints since the publication of the Michael Prescott memo, which raised concerns about the Panorama episode.
A report from Mr Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBCâs editorial standards committee, raised concerns that a speech made by Mr Trump before the attack on the US Capitol had been selectively edited by the BBC.
Mr Shah added: âWe accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action.â
On Thursday, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his party has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, calling on him to demand that Mr Trump âdrop his ludicrous one billion dollar lawsuit against the BBCâ.
In another post on X he said Mr Trump âwants to destroy the BBCâ and urged people to join his campaign, which is calling on the corporation to âfairly balance its political news coverage all year round, not just at election timeâ.
He also said that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who accused the BBC of being âinfected with left-wing biasâ, âis egging him onâ.
There have been reports that Reform UK has pulled out of a BBC documentary about the political party because of the controversy over the edited speech of Mr Trump.
