Donald Trump says he will file lawsuit against BBC in coming hours

US President Donald Trump has claimed the BBC ‘put words in my mouth literally’ (PA)

US president Donald Trump has said he will go ahead with his lawsuit against the BBC “this afternoon or tomorrow morning”.

It comes after Mr Trump threatened the BBC with a billion-dollar litigation for selectively editing one of his speeches in an episode of Panorama.

US President Donald Trump said he is suing the BBC (Leon Neal/PA)

The scandal unfolded earlier this year after a leaked memo highlighted concerns about the way clips of Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021 were spliced together so it appeared he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon in Washington, Mr Trump said:  “In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth literally. They had me saying things that I never said.

“We’ll be filing that suit probably this afternoon or tomorrow morning.”

After the report, which was written by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, was leaked, BBC chairman Samir Shah apologised on behalf of the BBC over an “error of judgment” and accepted the editing of the 2024 documentary gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.

The programme was broadcast a week before the US election in November 2024.

BBC chairman Samir Shah apologised on behalf of the BBC (Danny Lawson/PA)

The fallout from the report also led to the resignation of both the director-general Tim Davie and the head of news Deborah Turness.

Despite the apology, Mr Trump said he would proceed with legal action for “anywhere between one billion dollars and five billion dollars”.

Mr Trump has a history of suing news organisations in the US and is currently engaged in legal action with the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

BBC News reported that the broadcaster had set out five main arguments in a letter to Mr Trump’s legal team as to why it did not believe there was a basis for a defamation claim.

The BBC has been contacted for comment.