Trump says he will sue BBC for up to $5 billion over documentary editing

(AFP) President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will sue the BBC for between $1 billion and $5 billion after the British broadcaster apologized for misleadingly editing one of his speeches, but ruled out paying compensation.

"We'll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week. I think I have to do that, I mean they've even admitted that they cheated," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "They changed the words coming out of my mouth."

Trump's lawyers sent a letter to the BBC on Monday, accusing the network of defamation over a video edit of a speech given before the Capitol riots in January 2021. He gave the BBC until Friday to apologize and pay compensation.

“The people of the UK are very angry about what happened as you can imagine because it shows the BBC is fake news,” Trump said Friday night. 

The Republican president added that he plans to discuss the matter with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has backed the BBC's independence and avoided taking sides against Trump.

"I'm going to call him at the weekend. He actually put a call into me. He’s very embarrassed," he added.

On Monday, the BBC apologized for giving the impression in a documentary broadcast last year that Trump had incited "violent action" before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The case put the group in the eye of the storm and led to the resignations of its director general and the head of its news network, BBC News.

The network announced Thursday that BBC board chairman Samir Shah "sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president's speech."

However, he added, "While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim."