Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for a billion dollars if they don’t apologise and compensate him.
The US President has given the BBC a deadline of Friday to retract ‘false’ and ‘defamatory’ statements made about him in a Panorama documentary.
He threatened legal action after a report from Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee.
In it, he raised concerns that a speech Trump had made before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, had been selectively edited by the BBC. The impact has prompted widespread debate about the BBC, impartiality and how the national broadcaster can move forward from this.
A billion-dollar lawsuit could cripple the corporation – but could it actually happen?
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Could the lawsuit actually happen?
Robert Spritzer, an American political scientist and author, told Metro that the statute of limitations in terms of when such a suit could be filed in Britain has passed.
This means that if this suit goes forward, it would likely be filed in an American court, where the statute of limitations doesn’t apply.
Spritzer argues that the key to understanding Trump is realising litigation is one of his chief weapons that he’s used for decades.
‘He utilised it in thousands of cases while he was a businessman and before he entered politics. And the point is not necessarily to win lawsuits. In Trump’s case, it is less about winning than it is generating publicity that he views as favourable to himself, to harass whoever it is that he is suing, to ratchet up the anxiety for the individuals or organisations that he is suing.’
Spritzer says lawsuits of this calibre could be considered a SLAPP lawsuit – a lawsuit to essentially harass, to provide bad publicity. And Trump has had some success with lawsuits against American media organisations.
He adds: ‘Trump has already demonstrated an ability to intimidate American media, and it’s certainly possible that this kind of tactic would be employed to a greater degree against foreign media outlets if he is unsatisfied with their coverage of his administration.’
‘But his dissatisfaction with media coverage begins with any news story that he just doesn’t like. So, we’re not really talking about a legal standard here; we’re talking about a political standard that raises the possibility of bruising President Trump’s very large ego,’ Spritzer explains.
‘People have, to a great degree, forgotten about how Trump behaved as a businessman, and the tactics that he uses as president are lifted right from his business playbook, which spans many decades.
‘His heavy reliance on litigation is utterly typical in terms of how he has dealt with opponents or allies, for that matter, throughout his business career.’
What happened with Trump and the BBC?
The Prescott memo raised concerns about the way clips of Trump’s speech – which were 50 minutes apart -were spliced together to make it appear he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to ‘fight like hell’.
Critics said the Panorama edit was misleading and removed a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.’
Trump’s lawyer added: ‘Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to recover damages for the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that the BBC has caused him to suffer, with all rights and remedies being expressly reserved by President Trump.’
The White House may also consider restricting the corporation’s access to ‘open press events’ as a result of the edit, according to a senior official quoted in the Telegraph.
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