So where does it go from here?
Ever since the president first threatened legal action, it was clear that the corporation did not intend to offer him compensation. It believes it has a case that, whatever error was made, no harm was caused to Trump by the Panorama programme.
He was elected president soon after it went out and anyway, says the BBC, the programme wasn’t broadcast on any US channels, so how could it have harmed him?
I think there was a certain consensus, inside and outside the corporation, that the notion of using licence fee payers’ money to settle with Trump was a non-starter.
As one former senior BBC executive put it to me, after the BBC had rejected offering compensation, “they’ve made the right call”. But this person also said, if the president did decide to sue, the BBC would have to “batten down – and get the best lawyers in Florida”.
The reason to settle would have been to bring down costs in the long run.
Now it looks as if the BBC will be involved in a protracted, costly court battle at a time when it should be 100% focused on the discussions over the renewal of its charter, which are ramping up.
The people at the top of the BBC should be fully concentrating on what is, in normal times, a fundamental moment for the corporation – when what it’s for, its scope, how it will be funded, the details of its very existence are all hammered out between government and BBC in time for a new charter at the start of 2028.
It’s already losing the man who should have led that – Tim Davie, the director general.
Now top BBC brains will be diverted, to game out its next moves in what could be a very damaging, even existential fight with Donald Trump. The legal fees alone could get very expensive.
