“We can’t let people do this”: American President Donald Trump has an “obligation” to sue the BBC for “misleading the public”, he said late Tuesday, justifying the British channel’s threat of a billion-dollar damages demand.
The BBC “edited my speech on January 6 (2021), which was a beautiful speech, a very sobering speech, and made it sound radical, they completely changed it. What they did was extraordinary,” stressed the American president on the American channel Fox News.
Donald Trump says he has an “obligation” to sue the BBC over the way parts of his speech were edited in the Panorama documentary.
said US correspondent Davis Willis #BBCBreakfast about an interview with Fox News where the US President said his speech… pic.twitter.com/oOj2dSNYyS
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) November 12, 2025
British public channels “slaughtered” the speech, “very dishonestly”, he added.
The BBC, a public institution long beloved by the British, but shaken by several controversies in recent years, is in turmoil for distorting Donald Trump’s words in a documentary on its flagship news magazine, “Panorama”, broadcast in October 2024 just before the American presidential election.
The montage deals with the sensitive issue of the attack on the Capitol
He is accused of editing sentences spoken at different moments in his speech on January 6, 2021, the day of the attack on the Capitol in Washington by supporters of Donald Trump. Quotes from the broadcast suggested that the outgoing president was urging his supporters to go to Congress to “fight like hell.”
In his full sentence, Donald Trump declared: “We will march to the Capitol and we will stand with our brave senators and representatives in Congress.” The phrase “fight as hard as you can” fits another part of the speech.
According to a Yougov Institute survey of more than 5,000 adults and published on Tuesday, 57% of the British public believe the BBC should apologize to the American president. Only 25% of those surveyed said they opposed the apology.
The ultimatum was set for Friday evening
In a letter to a British audiovisual group, Donald Trump’s lawyers gave the BBC until Friday evening to apologize and withdraw the documentary including the misleading montage that was broadcast in late October 2024.
If they fail, they will seek damages of one billion dollars (863 million euros) in court, according to a letter they sent to the BBC.
The controversy prompted the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and the group’s news channel boss, Deborah Turness, to resign on Sunday.
On Tuesday, Team Davie admitted the British group’s “breach of editorial rules” in front of its employees, while calling on them to “fight” to defend BBC journalism.
The American president, in open war against the press, has stepped up threats and legal action against the American media, some of which have agreed to pay him millions of dollars to get him to withdraw his complaints.
‘In the age of disinformation’, Starmer defends the BBC
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended the BBC: “In the age of disinformation, arguments in favor of an impartial British news service are more relevant than ever,” reports The Guardian.
“When something goes wrong, it is vital that the situation is rectified. The BBC must uphold the highest standards of accountability and must immediately correct its mistakes,” the head of government added.
