US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would sue the BBC for up to $5 billion. It comes even after the British broadcaster apologized to Trump earlier this month but refused to pay damages for the misleading editing of the speech.
“We’re going to sue them for anywhere between a billion and five billion dollars, probably sometime next week. I think I have to do it. They even admitted they cheated,” Trump told reporters abroad on his Air Force One.
The BBC has dismissed Donald Trump’s legal defamation claim, even as it apologized. This has clearly not sat well with the US president, who appears determined not to let the matter rest, despite the departure of top BBC officials and as the row threatens to strain relations with London.
Trump’s threat to sue the BBC for $5 billion is far above his original request for $1 billion — an already huge sum that represents 13% of the company’s annual revenue. The BBC said in a recent report last year that its annual income from license fees to the British public was 3.8 billion pounds, which is about $5 billion.
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Why is the BBC being sued?
The BBC has been in turmoil since a redacted clip from its flagship news program ‘Panorama’, broadcast ahead of the 2024 presidential election, resurfaced last week.
The broadcaster apologized Monday for giving the impression in the documentary that Trump was directly inciting “violent action” just before his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“The people of the United Kingdom are very angry about what happened, as you can imagine, because it shows that the BBC is fake news,” Trump said on Friday.
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Will the BBC pay Trump $5 billion?
In its apology, the BBC insists it will not pay Trump any financial damages.
The broadcaster reiterated that stance on Saturday in an article titled “BBC now faces tough legal battle with world’s most powerful man. What next?”
She said the BBC had no intention of paying Donald Trump any compensation because it believed the Panorama documentary had caused him no harm.
A former senior BBC official said they “made the right call” and talked about the rejection, according to the article.
Another action plan
However, the road ahead seems to be a long one for the British corporation. According to an executive quoted by the BBC in its article, the broadcaster now needs to “make a killing – and get the best lawyers in Florida” because Donald Trump doesn’t seem in any mood to give up.
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The BBC fears its top fights may have to be diverted to prepare for a long battle with the US president, a move that could be damaging to the point where it faces an existential crisis. The legal fee, the article states, can also be very expensive.
There are other avenues that a corporation can take.
The article mentions that the BBC could possibly involve the UK government in the matter in the hope that a phone call from Prime Minister Keir Starmer might change Trump’s mind.
However, it is still not clear whether the British Prime Minister would even want to get involved in this matter.
The BBC has not officially responded to Trump’s latest threats.
