US President Donald Trump said he would take legal action against the BBC over the way broadcaster ‘Panorama’ edited his speech, after the company apologized but refused to compensate him.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said: “We’re going to sue for between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably next week.” On Thursday, the BBC said editing the January 6 2021 speech inadvertently gave “the false impression that President Trump had directly called for violent action” and said the speech would not be broadcast again.
The company apologized to the president but said it would not pay any financial compensation. The television station issued the statement after Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue, seeking $1 billion in damages if the company did not recant, apologize and pay compensation.
“I think I have to do it,” Trump told reporters of his plans to take legal action. “They cheated. They changed the words that came out of my mouth.” Shortly before boarding the plane, the US president had declared: “If you don’t do it, you can’t stop it from happening to someone else” and called the edits “horrible” and “worse than the Kamala thing”, referring to a dispute he had with CBS over an interview on the 60 Minutes program with his 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris.
