Trump Says He Will Sue the BBC for Up to $5 Billion. It Won't Be Easy

President Donald Trump said he is suing the British Broadcasting Corp. over its flagship documentary show’s edit of his now infamous speech on January 6, 2021, despite an apology by the media organization. “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week,” Trump told reporters on Friday evening aboard Air Force One. “We have to do it. They’ve even admitted that they cheated,” Trump continued. “They changed the words coming out of my mouth.” The dispute stems from an episode of the BBC documentary series Panorama that aired in October last year and focused on the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Trump has accused the corporation of misleading its audience by editing a video of his speech that preceded the riot. Read more: What to Know About Trump’s Battle With BBC—and How His Wider War With Media Has Gone In the speech as it appeared on the documentary, Trump told the crowd at his “Save America” rally: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” He continued, “And we fight. We fight like hell.” Although the sentences were more than 50 minutes apart in the original speech, the Panorama edit made it seem as if the second followed the first immediately. The edit was raised in an internal memo by Michael Prescott, an independent advisor to the corporation, and first reported by the Daily Telegraph. Prescott shared concerns about “systemic” bias and “inaction” by the BBC’s leadership in dealing with problems in its news coverage. The BBC subsequently released a correction and apologized, conceding that the edit gave “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” while rejecting his demands for compensation. Two of the group’s top executives, Director General Tim Davie and the Chief Executive of BBC News Deborah Turness, both resigned this week over the row. What comes next? The BBC has already signaled that it does not agree that there are grounds for a defamation claim.  BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a letter to the White House that was later made public, saying that the corporation was sorry for the edit, adding that while it “sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.” That statement suggests that any lawsuit by Trump will be challenged, and that a lengthy court battle will ensue, if it gets that far. The president’s lawyers have hinted they could bring a case against the BBC in Florida, raising jurisdictional questions because the program was not broadcast widely in the U.S.  The lawsuit may also impact the relationship between Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a strong supporter of the BBC.  Trump said he planned to raise the issue with Starmer when speaking to reporters on Friday.  “I’m going to call him over the weekend. He actually put a call into me. He’s very embarrassed,” Trump said. Starmer defended the corporation earlier this week as the furore was growing. “I believe in a strong and independent BBC,” he said. “Some would rather BBC didn’t exist, I’m not one of them.” Trump’s attacks on the BBC have given ammunition to longtime domestic critics of the government-funded broadcaster in the United Kingdom, who have argued that it has a liberal bias and should be defunded.  Shah apologized for the “error of judgment” in a letter to the Parliamentary Culture, Media and Sport Committee. On Friday, Culture Minister Lisa Nandy said the apology was “right and necessary.” The threat against the BBC follows several similar lawsuits by Trump against media outlets he claims have shown bias against him. Trump sued CBS’ parent company, Paramount, last year, accusing the show 60 Minutes of selectively editing a Kamala Harris interview. CBS denied it had breached journalistic standards, but Paramount agreed at the start of July to pay $16 million to settle the lawsuit and to release transcripts of future 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates. Shortly after Trump’s speech at the White House Ellipse, a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in a demonstration fueled by his unfounded claims of election denial pushed by the president. Some participated in vandalism and looting, and more than 1,000 people were sentenced for their role before Trump eventually pardoned the attackers in his second term as President. According to a 2024 report from watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), over 200 defendants in the January 6 cases said in statements and filings that Trump incited them to take part in the riot, and 120 specifically cited Trump’s remarks as the reason they went to the Capitol. TIME has reached out to the BBC for comment.