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US President Donald Trump flags intention to sue BBC for up to $8 billion over documentary edit

9NEWS

Australia

Saturday, November 15


aprilUS President Donald Trump has flagged his intention to sue the BBC for up to $US5 billion ($7.7 billion) over its documentary edit,despite receiving an apology from the broadcaster.

The BBC apologised to the president after airing an edited version of his speech on January 6, 2021, splicing two parts of his address which took place almost an hour apart.

In a letter to Trump, the British broadcaster's chair Samir Shah personally apologised for the edit of the speech and accepted it"unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech".

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One on his way to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One on his way to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. (AP)

Trump's lawyer had previously sent the BBC a letter demanding an apology and threatened to file a US$1 billion ($1.5 billion) lawsuit.

The president said he still plans to sue the BBC, potentially now for a much larger sum.

"We'll sue them for anywhere between a billion and five billion dollars, probably some time next week. I think I have to do it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"They've even admitted that they cheated."

The legal dispute was sparked by an edition of the BBC's flagship current affairs seriesPanorama, titled"Trump: A Second Chance?" broadcast days before the 2024 US presidential election.

A third-party production company spliced together three quotes from two sections of the 2021 speech, into what appeared to be one quote in which Trump urged supporters to march with him and"fight like hell."

The chair of the BBC apologized on Monday for what he called an "error of judgment" over the way a speech by US President Donald Trump was edited in a BBC documentary.
The US president said he still plans to sue the BBC, potentially now for a much larger sum. (Jack Taylor/Reuters)

Among the parts cut out was a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

Trump earlier declared the BBC was"fake news", adding that the people of the UK are"very angry" about the edit.

He said he would raise the issue with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"I'm going to call him over the weekend. He actually put a call in to me. He's very embarrassed," Trump said.

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