The BBC has apologised to US President Donald Trump for an edited clip of his January 6, 2021 speech that aired in a 2024 Panorama documentary, acknowledging it created a misleading impression but insisting it does not amount to defamation.
In a formal retraction published on Thursday, the corporation admitted the programme used excerpts from different parts of Trump’s speech in a way that appeared as one continuous segment, unintentionally suggesting he directly called for violence at the US Capitol.
“We accept that our edit gave the mistaken impression of a direct call for violent action,” the statement read. “The BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for this error of judgement.”
BBC chair Samir Shah has also written a personal letter to the White House conveying the apology. The broadcaster maintains, however, that Trump’s threat of a billion-dollar lawsuit is baseless. “While we regret the manner of the edit, we strongly disagree there is any foundation for a defamation claim,” it stated.
The Panorama episode, Trump: A Second Chance?, has been removed from the BBC website and will not be broadcast again.
The controversy has prompted major upheaval within the corporation. Director-general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness have both resigned amid growing criticism of editorial standards, and the BBC says it has received more than 500 complaints linked to the issue.
Further questions emerged this week after reports that a similar misleading edit of Trump’s speech was used in a 2022 Newsnight broadcast. The BBC says it is now reviewing those claims.
The fallout has also spread into British politics. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to intervene, accusing Trump of trying to “destroy the BBC” and calling on him to drop the lawsuit. Reform UK has reportedly withdrawn from a planned BBC documentary due to the controversy, with its leader Nigel Farage accusing the broadcaster of bias.
