Donald Trump says He Has ‘Obligation’ to Sue BBC

US President Donald Trump has said he has an “obligation” to sue the BBC over the way a section of his speech was edited in a Panorama documentary.

Speaking to Fox News, he said his January 6, 2021, speech had been “butchered” and the way it was presented had “defrauded” viewers.

It is the first time Trump has spoken publicly about the issue since his lawyers wrote to the BBC, saying he would sue for $1 billion (£759 million) in damages unless the broadcaster issued a retraction, apologised and compensated him.

BBC chair Samir Shah has previously apologised for an “error of judgement” over the edit.

Appearing on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle, the president was asked if he would go ahead with the lawsuit, responding:

“Well, I guess I have to, you know, why not, because they defrauded the public, and they’ve admitted it.

“They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical. And they actually changed it. What they did was rather incredible.”

Asked again if he would proceed with the legal action, he said:

“Well, I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t get people, you can’t allow people to do that.”

The BBC received the letter from Trump’s lawyers on November 9, which demands a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary, an apology, and that the BBC “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.”

It has set a deadline of 10 pm GMT on November 14 for the corporation to respond. The BBC has said it will respond “in due course.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has made legal threats against other media outlets over their coverage of him. He settled with both CBS News and ABC News after receiving large payouts and has sought legal action against The New York Times.

The BBC edit appeared in a Panorama documentary, which aired days before the US presidential election in November 2024. The issue gained attention after a leaked internal BBC memo was published by The Daily Telegraph.

In the memo, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee raised concerns that a section of Trump’s speech had been edited to suggest he explicitly encouraged the Capitol riot.

Trump actually said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

However, in the Panorama edit, two parts of the speech, more than 50 minutes apart, were spliced together. The edit showed him saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The fallout led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.

Speaking at an internal all-staff meeting, Davie said: “We have made some mistakes that have cost us, but we need to fight,” adding that “this narrative will not just be given by our enemies, it’s our narrative.”

He added that the BBC went through “difficult times… but it just does good work, and that speaks louder than any newspaper, any weaponisation.”

Neither Davie nor Shah mentioned Trump’s lawsuit during the meeting.

Downing Street said the matter was “for the BBC.” The Prime Minister’s spokesperson added: “It is clearly not for the government to comment on any ongoing legal matters.”

The dispute comes as the BBC prepares for discussions about its royal charter renewal, due to expire at the end of 2027. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will oversee talks on the terms of its renewal.

She told the Commons on Tuesday those negotiations would “renew its mission for the modern age” and ensure a “genuinely accountable” organisation.

Nandy said: “There is a fundamental difference between raising serious concerns over editorial failings and members of this House launching a sustained attack on the institution itself, because the BBC is not just a broadcaster, it is a national institution that belongs to us all.”

The culture select committee is expected to hear evidence from senior BBC figures in the coming weeks, including Shah and board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson.

Former editorial standards adviser Michael Prescott, who authored the leaked memo, which appeared in the Telegraph, will also be invited to give evidence.