Trump: We will sue the BBC for an amount reaching 5 billion dollars

SadaNews - President Donald Trump stated late Friday to Saturday that he will sue the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and is demanding compensation ranging from one billion to five billion dollars, following the latter's apology for misleading editing of one of his speeches, while indicating that it does not intend to pay any damages.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: "We will sue them for an amount ranging between one billion and five billion dollars, perhaps sometime next week. I think I should do that. They have admitted to their deceit as well."

Trump's lawyers sent a letter to the BBC on Monday, accusing it of defaming the president by broadcasting a manipulated video of his speech prior to the outbreak of the riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, giving them a deadline until Friday to apologize and pay compensation.

Trump said: "The people of the United Kingdom are very angry about what happened (...) because this shows that the BBC is fake news."

He added that he intends to raise the issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who supported the independence of the BBC while avoiding bias towards Trump.

Trump continued: "I will contact him over the weekend. He actually called me. He feels very embarrassed."

On Monday, the BBC issued an apology for "misjudgment" due to misleading editing in a documentary it aired in October of last year, which suggested that President Donald Trump directly incited his supporters to attack the Capitol building in 2021.

The BBC's Director-General Tim Davie and the head of its news department, Deborah Turness, resigned on Sunday amid the controversy.

The BBC reported on Thursday that its Chairman, Samir Shah, sent a "personal message to the White House clarifying that both he and the institution apologize for the editing of the president's speech."

It added: "While the BBC sincerely regrets the way the video was edited, we strongly oppose the notion that there is a basis for a defamation lawsuit."