Donald Trump is more likely to win the lottery than his lawsuit with the BBC after it doctored one of his speeches, a legal expert has claimed.
The US President's lawyers have threatened to sue the broadcaster for between $1billion and £5billion in damages over Panorama's edit of his speech in Washington, which made him appear to encourage the January 6 riots.
The BBC has since apologised and said the splicing of the address was an "error of judgment, but refused to pay financial compensation.
On Saturday, a spokesman for the BBC said: "We have had no further contact from President Trump’s lawyers at this point. Our position remains the same."
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Gregory Germain, a professor at Syracuse University College of Law in New York, has cast doubt on Mr Trump's chances of winning the legal battle, saying his potential case would not meet the threshold of proving factual inaccuracy.
Mr Germain said Mr Trump was more likely to win $1billion from the lottery than succeed in the lawsuit.
He told the Daily Telegraph: "No, the facts were not false. Editing video to change the order of quotes to make a point is what video editors do every day."
The doctored speech by Mr Trump was aired on BBC Panorama last year, as well as on BBC Newsnight in 2022.
Donald Trump's lawyers have threatened to sue the BBC for $1billion
| GB NEWSThe Panorama scandal saw the resignations of the BBC's director-general, Tim Davie, and news chief Deborah Turness.
BBC editors spliced two clips together so that Mr Trump appeared to say: "We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."
The BBC has said it will not air the Panorama episode Trump: A Second Chance? again and published a retraction on the show’s webpage last week.
BBC News reported on Saturday the broadcaster had set out five main arguments in its letter to Mr Trump’s legal team as to why it did not believe there was a basis for a defamation claim.
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The BBC has set out five arguments in a letter to Donald Trump's legal team as to why it didn't believe there was basis for a defamation claim
| PAIn a world exclusive interview with GB News on Saturday, Mr Trump said he had no choice but to sue the corporation, despite its apology.
He told the People's Channel: "I'm not looking to get into lawsuits, but I think I have an obligation to do it.
"This was so egregious. If you don't do it, you don't stop it from happening again with other people.
"I'd like to find out why they did it."
President Trump told GB News he has 'an obligation' to sue the BBC
| GB NEWSHe added: "They took my words - my mouth - and they had different words coming out to make it sound bad.
"I made a beautiful statement and made it into a not beautiful statement.
"You know, the word fake is one thing but this is beyond fake. This is corrupt what they did."
Speaking to the media on Air Force One shortly after the interview, Mr Trump appeared to up the stakes once again, saying he planned to sue for as much as $5billion.
Mr Trump has a history of suing news organisations in the US, recieving a $15million settlement from CBS News over an edited interview it conducted on its 60 Minutes programme last year with former vice-president Kamala Harris.
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