BBC Apologizes to Trump Over Film Edit but Declines to Pay Compensation

The BBC apologized to President Trump on Thursday for a misleadingly edited documentary about the attacks on the U.S. Capitol, but it refused to pay him any compensation.

It was not clear whether this would forestall a $1 billion lawsuit that Mr. Trump’s lawyer threatened to file in a Florida court. The lawyer, Alejandro Brito, demanded an apology, a retraction of the film and damages that “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.”

The BBC said it would not rebroadcast the documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance?,” which originally aired in Britain in October 2024, on any of its platforms. But it added, “We strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

The decision to apologize to Mr. Trump but not pay compensation reflected both the relative weakness of the BBC’s editorial position on the film and its unique status as a partly publicly funded broadcaster.