Trump threatens to sue BBC for 1B$

As the BBC faces a major scandal over a misleading edit of a Donald Trump speech from January 6, 2021, two top executives – Director Tim Davie and BBC News chief Deborah Turness – have resigned amid mounting accusations of bias and lack of impartiality.

Trump has seized on the controversy on Truth Social to accuse the British, a key US ally, of damaging democracy, calling it «What a terrible thing for Democracy!» and is now threatening to sue the BBC for 1 billion dollars over the edited segment, according to several media outlets including The Washington Post and Fox News.

In his Truth Social post, Trump claimed that senior leadership at the broadcaster was being pushed out, writing that «The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.»

In the same message, Trump also thanked a British newspaper for its coverage of the controversy, writing «Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt “Journalists.”». Trump continued his attack on the network and its staff, writing «These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election.» Trump ends his message by broadening his accusations to a key US ally as a whole, writing «On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!».

The accusations against the BBC centre on a Panorama documentary that spliced together separate parts of Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech, allegedly creating the impression that he was directly urging supporters to storm the Capitol. The row was ignited by a detailed exposé in The Telegraph, based on a leaked 19-page internal memo written by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott.

That dossier claims the programme «Trump: A Second Chance?» was «completely misleading», accusing editors of “doctoring” Trump’s remarks by stitching together lines spoken nearly an hour apart and then overlaying them with footage of the Capitol march that was filmed earlier, thereby changing the meaning of his words.

According to Fox News, Trump and his legal team have also sent a formal letter to the BBC, claiming that «The BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm» and warning that «if the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived». The letter adds that this could include «filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages.»

Turness, according to The Guardian, defended the corporation as she announced her resignation over the scandal, rejecting Trump’s claim that its journalists are corrupt and insisting that «Our journalists aren’t corrupt. Our journalists are hardworking people who strive for impartiality. And I will stand by their journalism,» adding that while mistakes happen, «There is no institutional bias.»

According to The Guardian, some BBC staff believe the scandal is being driven less by genuine concerns over impartiality than by a coordinated campaign from the corporation’s political enemies, with sources inside the News department saying «It feels like a coup» and calling it «the result of a campaign by political enemies of the BBC.»