Trump threatens BBC with $1bn lawsuit over edited January 6 speech

US president demands ‘full and fair’ retraction of BBC documentary that prompted resignation of 2 apical executives.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to writer the BBC for $1bn implicit an edited clip that has plunged the broadcaster into a nationalist relations situation and prompted the resignations of 2 apical executives.

In a missive sent to the BBC, Trump’s legal team has demanded the retraction of “false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements” contained in a Panorama documentary aired a week before the 2024 US statesmanlike election.

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The letter, written by Trump lawyer Alejandro Brito, gives the BBC until Friday to supply a “full and fair” retraction of the documentary and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused”, oregon look ineligible action.

“The BBC is connected notice. PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY,” says the letter, which was wide circulated connected societal media.

The BBC did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for comment.

The documentary, titled Trump: A Second Chance?, has been mired successful contention since the leak of an interior memo that criticised producers for editing Trump’s remarks to marque it look that helium had straight encouraged the January 6, 2021, riot astatine the US Capitol.

In the documentary, Trump is shown saying, “We combat similar hell”, straight aft telling supporters, “We’re going to locomotion down to the Capitol”.

Trump had really followed his comments astir going to the Capitol with a remark astir cheering connected “our brave senators and congressmen and women”, and made his “fight similar hell” remark astir an hr later.

The memo, written by Michael Prescott, a erstwhile advisor to the BBC’s standards committee, besides accused the broadcaster of suppressing captious sum of transgender issues and displaying anti-Israel bias wrong the BBC Arabic service.

The BBC’s director-general, Tim Davie, and its caput of news, Deborah Turness, stepped down connected Sunday amid the fallout of the controversy.

Trump welcomed the resignations successful a station connected Truth Social, accusing the BBC executives of being “corrupt” and “very dishonest people”.

BBC seat Samir Shah connected Monday acknowledged that the clip was misleading and apologised for the “error of judgement”, but rejected claims that the broadcaster is institutionally biased.

Shah besides said that the memo did not contiguous “a afloat representation of the discussions, decisions and actions that were taken” by the standards committee successful effect to concerns raised internally earlier the leak.

Trump’s ineligible menace is the latest successful a flurry of actions helium has taken to punish captious media.

Those moves see defamation claims against outlets including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and ABC News, backing cuts astatine NPR and PBS, and the removal of Associated Press journalists from the White House property pool.