Trump says UK ‘embarrassed’ by BBC after Panorama edit, plans call with Starmer

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said Friday he plans to call UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer because of the BBC's Panorama episode that spliced together parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech, which “changed the words coming out of my mouth.”

He described the incident as “very embarrassing” for Britain.

The BBC apologized Thursday to Trump for airing the documentary that spliced together two separate lines from his speech but said the broadcaster would not pay compensation or accept his claim of defamation.

Speaking to reporters Friday aboard Air Force One, Trump accused the BBC of fabricating part of an interview.

"What the BBC did, nobody would even think a thing like that was done. They actually changed the words coming out of my mouth,” he said.

“We’ll sue them for anywhere between a million and $5 million probably sometime next week,” he said, adding that the broadcaster “cheated," and he is obligated to act.

Trump said the controversy has caused unease in the UK, claiming public reaction has been strong.

“The people of the UK are very angry about what happened, as you can imagine, because it shows the BBC is fake news. You and I knew that for a long time, but we didn't know it was this fake,” he said.

Asked if he had raised the matter with Starmer, Trump said he had not yet spoken to the British prime minister but plans to do so soon.

“I have not, but I'll call him. I'm going to call him over the weekend. He actually put a call into me. He's very embarrassed,” said Trump.
He added that the situation was uncomfortable for the UK government, regardless of the BBC’s level of public ownership.

“I can say this, the UK is very, very embarrassed by the BBC,” he added.