BBC chairman Samir Shah wrote to staff to tell them the corporation would fight the US President’s legal claim. Photo / Getty Images
The BBC is “determined to fight” any legal action by Donald Trump, its chairman has told staff.
Samir Shah has said there is “no basis for a defamation case” after the US President said he would sue the corporation for up to US$5 billion ($8.8b).
In an email seen by Sky News, Shah wrote: “There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon 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 licence fee payers, the British public.
“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.”
The BBC is in turmoil after an internal dossier obtained by The Telegraph found the corporation had doctored a speech by Trump, leading to the resignation of Tim Davie as director-general and Deborah Turness as the head of news.
Despite an apology from the BBC for its editing of the Panorama episode, the US President confirmed he would still be taking legal action.
Speaking to The Telegraph onboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said he would formally seek damages against the BBC as early as this week for between “US$1b and US$5b”.
“I think I have to do it,” he said. “They’ve even admitted that they cheated … They changed the words coming out of my mouth.
“The people of the UK are very angry about what happened, as you can imagine, because it shows the BBC is fake news.”
The BBC is in crisis after the memo revealed Panorama had spliced together two statements made by the President almost an hour apart to make it seem as if he was inciting the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump had said in his speech: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” Roughly an hour later, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
In Panorama’s version, he was shown to have said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol ... and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” The revelation led to the resignations of both Davie and Turness.
In his email, Shah went on to say he was still “immensely proud” of the “vital work” BBC staff are doing as part of “critically important journalism every single day”.
He continued: “Last week I took the opportunity to speak with the executive team and am reassured of their resolute focus on ensuring the BBC continues to deliver on behalf of audiences and staff.
“I know they plan to spend as much time as possible with their teams over the coming weeks to reinforce the importance of that work and answer your questions.”
Shah thanked staff for their “continued commitment and focus” and praised their efforts during BBC Children in Need, which has raised US$45.5m.
Sir Keir Starmer had been expected to tell Trump that the BBC must “get its house in order” in a phone call over the weekend. However, it is understood that the pair did not speak after all. It is not clear if a call is still set to take place.
Asked what the Prime Minister made of Trump’s increased demands for up to US$5b, a No 10 spokesman said: “We have been very clear that this is a matter for the BBC, whose lawyers are now dealing with this. We’re just not going to comment on an ongoing legal matter.
“As we’ve emphasised repeatedly, the BBC is independent of the UK Government. It is a matter for them and the US administration.”
Trump has a history of successful litigation. The US President’s victories include ABC News agreeing to pay him US$15m after its star anchor said he had been found “liable for rape”, which he denied.
CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, settled for US$16m after Trump claimed an episode of 60 Minutes had edited versions of interviews with his rival Kamala Harris, the former Vice-President, “to tip the scales in favour of the Democratic Party”.
This year, Trump signed a US$25m settlement with Meta over its decision to suspend his accounts after the Capitol riots.
He also has an ongoing claim against the New York Times, after refiling a US$15b lawsuit against the paper, accusing it of libelling him in the run-up to the presidential election.
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