BBC vs Trump: Why Trump plans to sue despite the apology — and why the fallout is worse for BBC than it looks

A massive drama is on between the British news broadcaster BBC and US President Donald Trump. The Republican has accused the organisation, in a documentary in 2024, of allegedly creating a false perception that he urged supporters to “fight like hell" and march with him to the US Capitol in January 2021. After the American president threatened to sue the BBC, the organisation issued an apology. But despite the public apology, Trump said on Friday (Nov 15) that he would sue the news outlet for up to $5 billion.

Trump, while speaking to the reporters aboard Air Force One, said that he would file a lawsuit “probably sometime next week". He added that the edit “changed the words coming out of my mouth." This statement, reported by Reuters first, has escalated the tension in a controversy that has already triggered the resignation of the BBC’s director general and head of news.

What is the centre of controversy?

It all began when the Daily Telegraph published a few portions of an internal BBC memo that was written by former standards adviser Michael Prescott. The memo criticised the BBC’s Panorama programme titled Trump: A Second Chance?. It was aired just before the 2024 US presidential election.

Now, as per Reuters, the documentary combined three separate clips of Trump's January 6, 2021, speech, which gave an impression of a continuous speech. The edit made it appear as if Trump had urged his supporters to “fight like hell" shortly before the Capitol was overrun.

Trump's lawyer called the documentary “false and defamatory". It was also claimed that the portion of speech stitched together has at least an hour gap. Giving an interview to GB News, Trump said the documentary's edit was "impossible to believe".

“I made a beautiful statement, and they made it into a not beautiful statement… Fake news was a great term, except it’s not strong enough. This is beyond fake, this is corrupt," the American president added.

What was the BBC's response?

The BBC admitted that the edit in the documentary was an "error of judgment". Initially, the organisation hesitated, but later, the BBC's chairperson, Samir Shah, sent a formal letter to the White House as an apology on Thursday (Nov 13). “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim," the British broadcaster said in a statement. The organisation also said that it would not rebroadcast the documentary.

But was this going to relax the American president?

Trump threatens to sue the BBC for $5 billion - but why?

Trump has claimed that the mistake by the BBC was actually a deliberate attempt to damage his reputation. “I think I have to do that, I mean, they’ve even admitted that they cheated… They changed the words coming out of my mouth," he told reporters.

Earlier, Trump's lawyers had said that if the BBC did not apologise, the American president would sue them for nothing less than $1 billion. Now, the Republican is saying the amount could go up to $5 billion. Moreover, Trump also said that the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was "very embarrassed" by the act. He said the British PM tried to reach him, but he would connect with him over the weekend.

Why is the situation worse for the BBC than it seems?

The latest issue has now raised questions on the BBC's legitimacy in coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Now, speculations of biased coverage on key geopolitical issues arise for the British outlet.

What are the chances Trump would win the lawsuit?

Reports hinted that the process of winning the lawsuit against the BBC might be challenging for the American president. As per a report by AP, the most difficult part for Trump would be to show the harm the edit caused. Trump either way won the 2024 US election - and this scenario weakens his case and makes it difficult to prove that the documentary damaged his reputation.