Britain’s BBC is “determined to fight” any legal action filed by U.S President Donald Trump, saying on Monday there was no basis for a defamation case over its editing of one of his speeches.
Trump said on Friday he would likely sue the BBC this week for as much as $5 billion after the broadcaster spliced together separate excepts of one of his speeches, creating the impression he was inciting the January 6, 2021, riot.
The BBC’s chair Samir Shah sent a personal letter to Trump to apologise for the edit, the BBC said on Thursday, but the broadcaster said it strongly disagreed there was a basis for a defamation claim.
Trump told reporters on Friday he would sue for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion. “I think I have to do that, I mean they’ve even admitted that they cheated,” he said.
Shah told BBC staff in an email on Monday there was a lot of speculation about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements.
“In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our license fee payers, the British public,” he said in the email.
“I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.”
