The US president reiterated his threat of <\/a>launching a $1bn legal action<\/a> during an interview on Fox News. He said:<\/p>\n I think I have an obligation to do it, you can\u2019t allow people to do that.<\/p>\n I guess I have to. They defrauded the public and they\u2019ve admitted it. This is within one of our great allies, supposedly our great ally [the UK].<\/p>\n That\u2019s a pretty sad event. They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical.<\/p>\n The edit suggested Trump told the crowd:<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to walk down to the Capitol and I\u2019ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.<\/p>\n The words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart.<\/p>\n A legal letter, from Trump counsel Alejandro Brito, has demanded that \u201cfalse, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements\u201d made about Trump be retracted immediately.<\/p>\n The letter says if the BBC<\/a> \u201cdoes not comply\u201d, the president will be \u201cleft with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than 1,000,000,000 dollars in damages\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.36 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n The BBC has said it will respond in due course. It has already made something of an apology and retraction, although probably not to the extent Donald Trump wants, and the bigger decision will be whether to offer a settlement.<\/p>\n Paramount, the parent company of CBS News settled with Trump for $16m<\/a>, despite many legal experts believing the claim was baseless. However, that was widely seen as intended to ensure approval of Paramount\u2019s merger with Skydance media.<\/p>\n The <\/a>ABC News<\/a> and anchor <\/a>George Stephanopoulos<\/a> agreed to pay $15m<\/a> in settlement of a lawsuit Trump filed over comments Stephanopoulos made saying Trump had been found \u201cliable for rape\u201d, whereas the jury had actually found that he \u201csexually abused\u201d the columnist E Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Explainer: Can Donald Trump sue the BBC for $1bn and which party would win? Donald Trump has grabbed the headlines after threatening to sue the BBC for $1bn (\u00a3760m) for what the corporation has accepted was a misleading edit of his speech on 6 January 2021 during the Capitol Hill insurrection.<\/p>\n Can Trump really sue for $1bn?<\/p>\n In the UK the biggest defamation award made by a court is believed to be \u00a31.5m, but in the US the highest award was the $1.4bn, the Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist, <\/a>Alex Jone<\/a>s, was ordered to pay<\/a> to the families of victims from the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, which he claimed was a hoax.<\/p>\n However, that case is an outlier, with the next highest US payout believed to be the $787.5m Fox agreed to pay<\/a> the voting equipment company Dominion in settlement over a claim that Dominion was involved in a plot to steal the 2020 election.<\/p>\n Trump has not elaborated on how the $1bn was reached and has form for making legal claims with eye-catching amounts, including the $10bn (later increased to $20bn) he sought from the BBC\u2019s US partner <\/a>CBS News<\/a>, which he accused of doctoring an interview with Kamala Harris to cast her in a positive light; the $15bn defamation lawsuit filed against the <\/a>New York Times<\/a> for \u201cspreading false and defamatory content\u201d about him; and a $10bn libel claim against the Wall Street Journal<\/a> over its reporting of his links to Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n Here the Guardian examines the US president\u2019s potential path to bringing and winning a libel claim:<\/p>\n Share<\/a> MPs also called for Robbie Gibb to be removed. Labour MP Sarah Owen said it was time to review his place on the board.<\/p>\n Anna Sabine, the Liberal Democrat culture spokesperson, said it was \u201cobvious to everyone that this issue is being weaponised by those who want to undermine the BBC<\/a> and who would profit from its demise\u201d. \u201cSerious concerns remain over the conduct of Sir Robbie Gibb during his tenure on the BBC board,\u201d she said, backing his removal.<\/p>\n Pete Wishart, from the SNP, also called for his departure.<\/p>\n However, Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis said the \u201ccrisis had nothing to do with Robbie Gibb\u201d and was entirely down to the mistakes the BBC had made. A corporation spokesperson said Gibb was one voice on a board of 13 people, which had a \u201ccross-section of views\u201d.<\/p>\n The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said there was a \u201cstrict legal threshold that must be met before dismissal of a board member\u201d, adding that she could not remove Gibb. She condemned attempts to launch a \u201csustained attack\u201d on the BBC.<\/p>\n Suggestions of a political effort to pressure the BBC from the right have been denied. In his letter, Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC\u2019s editorial guidelines and standards committee, said his criticisms \u201cdo not come with any political agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n In the all-staff meeting, Samir Shah, the BBC\u2019s chair, said any idea of a rightwing coup to destabilise the BBC from within was \u201cfanciful\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201c[Board members] have different points of view,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t want a board that\u2019s guilty of groupthink, but the opposite of groupthink is different points of view. That makes the job of the chair challenging to try and organise and get consensus, but it\u2019s important that people have a diversity of opinion on the board.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> BBC staff watching outgoing director general Tim Davie<\/a>\u2019s address tried to raise the issue of Robbie Gibb\u2019s place on the board. \u201cWhy is Robbie Gibb still on the board?\u201d asked one.<\/p>\n \u201cThe board needs independent oversight free from political interference,\u201d said another. \u201cUntil Robbie Gibb and any other political appointee are removed, we cannot possibly be truly trusted to be an unbiased organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n Another said:<\/p>\n I find Robbie Gibb\u2019s continued presence at the BBC to be incredibly demoralising. It feels as if he is fighting against and undermining the work we\u2019re trying to do.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>MPs and BBC staff call for Robbie Gibb to leave broadcaster\u2019s board MPs and BBC staff members have called for Robbie Gibb to be removed from the corporation\u2019s board as outgoing director general Tim Davie<\/a> hit out at the \u201cweaponisation\u201d of criticisms of the broadcaster.<\/p>\n In an online meeting with Davie, staff questioned the position of Gibb, Theresa May\u2019s former communications chief, who was appointed during Boris Johnson\u2019s time as prime minister.<\/p>\n Several said Gibb and all political appointees should be removed from the body. It has been claimed that Gibb pushed accusations of institutional bias that preceded the shock resignation of Davie and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC<\/a> News.<\/p>\n Their departures over the weekend followed accusations of bias made in a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the BBC\u2019s editorial guidelines and standards committee. He left that role in the summer.<\/p>\n His memo was leaked to the Daily Telegraph last week and reported over the course of several days.<\/p>\n It included criticism of the way Panorama broadcast edited footage of a Donald Trump speech, which has since led the US<\/a> president to threaten a $1bn legal action<\/a>. Prescott made a series of other claims of a more general liberal bias on issues such as trans rights and Gaza.<\/p>\n Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC board in 2021 by Boris Johnson. Photograph: Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n While the BBC has acknowledged failings, concern has grown over Gibb\u2019s position on the board amid suggestions that he played a role in both pushing Prescott\u2019s claims and in Prescott being awarded the advisory role. Both Gibb and Prescott have now been summoned to give evidence to the Commons culture, media and sport committee.<\/p>\n Thanking staff for their support at the meeting, Davie reassured them that the narrative around the corporation \u201cwill not just be given by our enemies\u201d after a week in which senior politicians have accused the BBC of systemic bias in its reporting.<\/p>\n \u201cI do hear everyone when we have to be very clear and stand up for our journalism,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are in a unique and precious organisation. I see the free press under pressure. I see the weaponisation. I think we\u2019ve got a fight for our journalism. I\u2019m really proud of our work.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the crisis at the BBC has provided an \u201copportunity\u201d to \u201ctake away all the people who were political appointees\u201d.<\/p>\n According to the PA news agency, Cooper told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today Programme:<\/p>\n We Liberal Democrats don\u2019t think that there should be any political appointees and we would like to see legislation to bring back the independent appointments process for the BBC board.<\/p>\n The St Albans MP added:<\/p>\n I do think that this crisis in the BBC provides an opportunity for us to clear up the BBC and to make sure we can safeguard its independence for future.<\/p>\n When you look at independent editorial decisions that have been made on particular stories, there\u2019s no doubt in my mind that the BBC has, on a number of occasions, been pretty sloppy, and it\u2019s been very slow at correcting them.<\/p>\n But I think ultimately this is an opportunity, this crisis, and the way we make the most of that, to protect the BBC, to safeguard its future and to protect its independence, is to make sure that we can take away all the people who were political appointees.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump says he has ‘obligation’ to sue BBC<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the continuing fallout at the BBC as Donald Trump claimed the broadcaster had \u201cdefrauded the public\u201d and he had an \u201cobligation\u201d to take legal action over the editing of a speech.<\/p>\n Director-general Tim Davie<\/a> quit on Sunday<\/a> amid criticisms over the editing of a speech by Trump before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021 in an edition of Panorama which aired last year just before the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n The US president reiterated his threat of <\/a>launching a $1bn legal action<\/a> during an interview on Fox News. He said:<\/p>\n I think I have an obligation to do it, you can\u2019t allow people to do that.<\/p>\n I guess I have to. They defrauded the public and they\u2019ve admitted it. This is within one of our great allies, supposedly our great ally [the UK].<\/p>\n That\u2019s a pretty sad event. They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical.<\/p>\n The edit suggested Trump told the crowd:<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to walk down to the Capitol and I\u2019ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.<\/p>\n The words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart.<\/p>\n A legal letter, from Trump counsel Alejandro Brito, has demanded that \u201cfalse, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements\u201d made about Trump be retracted immediately.<\/p>\n![\"Haroon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Haroon_Siddique_V2.png\")
Haroon SiddiqueHow is the BBC likely to respond to Trump?<\/p>\nHaroon Siddique<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762936928_15_Michael-Savage,-L.png\")
Michael Savage<\/p>\nMichael Savage<\/p>\nMichael Savage<\/p>\n