US EditionTrump Threatens BBC with $1 Billion Defamation Case over Speech Edit
Trump claims the BBC edited his Capitol speech to falsely suggest incitement and demands $1 billion in damages under Florida law, citing defamation and reputational harm.
- On Monday, Alejandro Brito, representing President Donald Trump, sent the BBC a letter demanding a full retraction, apology and compensation, threatening $1,000,000,000 in damages with a Friday, 5pm Eastern Time deadline.
- A leaked memo showed the Panorama programme spliced clips from two parts of Mr Trump's speech more than 50 minutes apart, prompting internal criticism and resignations of Tim Davie, outgoing BBC director-general, and Deborah Turness, former CEO of BBC News.
- Under US and UK rules, the UK defamation statute one-year limitation expired since the Panorama episode aired in October 2024, but Florida law two-year limitation keeps a US suit possible if BBC iPlayer availability in Florida is shown.
- The BBC is reviewing the legal letter amid a forthcoming charter review, with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy urging reforms to ensure independence before the BBC charter expires at the end of 2027.
- Legal experts note US press-freedom legal standards make a $1,000,000,000 award unlikely, despite Mr Trump's $16,000,000 and $15,000,000 settlements; litigation could expose his January 6 conduct to scrutiny.
16 Articles
16 Articles
US President Donald Trump has said he has an "obligation" to sue the BBC over the way part of his speech was edited in the "Panorama" documentary.
Trump threatens BBC with $1 billion defamation case over speech edit
US President Donald Trump said he had an "obligation" to sue the BBC for defamation in an interview released on Tuesday, after the broadcasting company aired a documentary splicing together two parts of a speech made by Trump. Here's a look at how legal action between the US President and the world's biggest broadcaster could play out.
U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that he has the “obligation” to sue the British television station BBC for “tergiversing” his speech shortly before the assault by a mob of his supporters against the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, an incident with which they sought to avoid certification of the election results that gave the victory to Joe Biden. “Well, I think I have an obligation to do so,” he said in reference to a possible lawsuit du…
For the American president his speech was "massacred" by the issuer and the way in which it was presented has "frauded" the viewers
Trump says BBC ‘defrauded the public’ with editing of January 6 speech
The US President told Fox News he had an ‘obligation’ to take legal action over the speech. US President Donald Trump said the BBC “defrauded the public” and that he had an “obligation” to take legal action over the editing of a speech. Director-general Tim Davie quit on Sunday amid a scandal over the editing of a speech by Mr Trump before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021. Mr Trump reiterated his threat of launching a billion-dolla…
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