US President Donald Trump has threatened the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) with a billion-dollar lawsuit.

This comes after the British broadcaster apologised to the President for airing a Panorama documentary in October 2024 that included an edited version of Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech. The edit showed Trump appeared to say he would walk with supporters to the Capitol and “fight like hell,” which critics argued implied he was inciting violence.

President Trump’s legal team, in a letter addressed to the BBC, ordered the broadcaster to remove the documentary containing the edit, apologise and "appropriately compensate" the president for the reputational damage.

The BBC is expected to comply with the orders in the letter by November 14.

“If the BBC does not comply, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights… including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages,” the letter stated.

It added that, "The BBC is on notice. PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY."

The BBC’s Director-General and the organisation’s top news executive resigned on Sunday amid the row, following accusations that a Panorama programme documentary last year featured extracts from a Trump speech that were edited misleadingly.

The BBC said it would "review" the letter from Trump’s legal team.

It all started when Trump made allegations that the 2025 elections had been rigged. His supporters raided the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, while officials were certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. It was considered one of the most serious assaults on American democracy in modern history.

One of Trump’s spokespersons from the legal team confirmed that the letter has been sent detailing that, "President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in lies, deception, and fake news."

This is not the first time Trump has filed a lawsuit against media houses. In 2024, he sued ABC, CBS, and in September, he sued The New York Times, according to APP.

In 2024, he sued ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation. The anchor alleged that the President had been found liable for rape, a claim the President blatantly denied, labelling them as lies and highly defamatory. By December 2024, they settled the caseafter which ABC agreed to pay $15 million to a Trump-related foundation, cover $1 million in legal fees, and formally apologise.

Before the lawsuit against ABC News, Trump, in November that same year, sued CBS News over a 60 Minutes interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris. He claimed the network deceptively edited the interview in a way that misrepresented Harris’s remarks. The case concluded in July 2025 when CBS’s parent company, Paramount, settled for $16 million. As part of the settlement, CBS agreed to release full transcripts of presidential candidate interviews in the future to ensure transparency.

Most recently, on September 16, 2025, Trump filed a massive $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times. He accused the paper of publishing malicious and fabricated claims in articles and a book released before the 2024 election. While a federal judge struck parts of the complaint in September 2025, Trump refiled an amended version in October 2025. The case remains ongoing.

Meanwhile, BBC chairman Samir Shah, in a formal letter to MPs, admitted that his outfit edited Trump’s speech, making it “...give the impression of a direct call for violent action.”

"The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgment," he added, assuring that it would do better in terms of oversight within the broadcaster.

Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness stepped down on Sunday following the escalating backlash.

Trump, on the other hand, happily welcomed the BBC leader's resignation, labelling them as “corrupt” and “dishonest”. His press secretary also referred to the broadcaster as “100 per cent fake news.”

However, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman emphasised the BBC’s importance in combating disinformation:

"It's important that the BBC acts swiftly to maintain trust and correct mistakes quickly when they occur."

The government is preparing a review of the BBC’s charter, which governs the corporation’s governance and funding, set to expire in 2027.

The BBC, facing budget cuts and hundreds of job losses, is funded by a licence fee paid by anyone who watches live TV in Britain.

The BBC’s latest crisis intensified after the right-wing Daily Telegraph reported that warnings from a former external standards adviser about serious failings of impartiality and systemic bias had been ignored.

Earlier this year, the BBC also apologised for “serious flaws” in a documentary about the Gaza war, deemed “materially misleading” by the UK media watchdog.

Additionally, the broadcaster faced criticism for failing to remove a livestream of punk-rap duo Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, after anti-Israel comments were made by the frontman.