US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives at Palm Seaside Worldwide Airport on Oct. 31, 2025 in West Palm Seaside, Florida.
Samuel Corum | Getty Pictures
U.S. President Donald Trump has upped the ante in his authorized dispute with the BBC, suing the broadcaster for $10 billion in a defamation lawsuit filed Monday.
The president’s authorized workforce had initially threatened the BBC with a $1 billion lawsuit final month after it emerged that it had aired a documentary during which Trump’s Jan. 6 speech in 2021 was edited to make it seem like he was explicitly encouraging his supporters to assault the U.S. Capitol.
However in a defamation lawsuit filed in a federal courtroom in Florida Monday night time, Trump’s authorized workforce stated they have been now in search of $10 billion in damages, accusing the broadcaster of manufacturing a “false, defamatory, misleading, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump.”
The BBC knew a lawsuit was coming and went into disaster mode final month as issues over the documentary got here to gentle, with each its director basic and head of reports resigning.
The broadcaster apologized to the president final month and agreed to not present the documentary once more, however rejected his name for compensation. Trump, in the meantime, stated he had an “obligation” to sue and on Monday accused the company of placing “horrible phrases” in his mouth.
How did we get right here?
In October 2024, the BBC aired a Panorama documentary known as “Trump: A Second Probability?” during which it confirmed Trump addressing supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.
Within the Panorama program, Trump was proven saying, “We will stroll right down to the Capitol … and I will be there with you. And we struggle. We struggle like hell.”
As such, the edit mixed two separate components of his speech, however this was not flagged to viewers, making it seem like he had explicitly instructed his supporters to riot in a single assertion.
That was not the case as Trump had really stated: “We will stroll right down to the Capitol, and we will cheer on our courageous senators and congressmen and girls.”
Solely a lot later (in reality, round 54 minutes later) did Trump then say, “and I will be there with you. And we struggle. We struggle like hell.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks throughout a “Save America Rally” close to the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.
Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Trump’s speech turned notorious as Trump supporters descended on the Capitol after the tackle, with skirmishes breaking out with police and various protesters getting into the constructing. On the time, Trump urged these concerned within the riots to “go dwelling now.”
The documentary would not seem to have triggered a fuss on the time, however the enhancing course of got here to gentle when a memo written by ex-BBC adviser Michael Prescott was leaked to the press, during which he criticized editorial requirements on the BBC.
The Panorama documentary within the highlight was not made by the BBC, however by a third-party manufacturing firm known as October Movies. Nonetheless, questions have been requested as to why it was reviewed and authorized for broadcasting. The documentary is not out there to view on the BBC iPlayer.
What does Trump need?
Trump’s civil grievance accuses the BBC of manufacturing a “false, defamatory, misleading, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump” within the documentary, which was aired one week earlier than the 2024 election.
The swimsuit additionally alleges the documentary was produced as a part of “a brazen try and intrude in and affect the Election’s end result to President Trump’s detriment.”
The swimsuit alleges that “issues in regards to the Panorama Documentary have been raised internally earlier than its dissemination, however the BBC ignored these issues and didn’t take corrective motion.”
CNBC has requested remark from the BBC on Trump’s swimsuit, which seeks $5 billion in damages for every of its two counts: defamation and violation of Florida’s Misleading and Unfair Commerce Practices Act.
Trump’s authorized workforce initially wrote to the BBC in November to element its complaints. The letter, which was revealed in full by Sky Information, stated the airing of this system had “triggered President Trump to undergo overwhelming monetary and reputational hurt.”
It warned that Trump would sue for $1 billion in damages until the company issued a “full and truthful retraction,” apologized and compensated the president “for the hurt triggered.”
Trump instructed Fox Information final month that his Jan. 6 speech had been “butchered” within the Panorama edit and stated he had an “obligation” to sue. On Monday, Trump instructed reporters on the White Home that “you may be seeing I am suing the BBC for placing phrases in my mouth,” including:
“Actually, they put phrases in my mouth. That they had me saying issues that I by no means stated popping out.”
BBC response
The BBC has not but commented on the lawsuit filed Monday however has beforehand apologized to Trump, whereas rejecting his requires damages.
The BBC issued an announcement final month during which it stated, “we settle for our edit created the impression we have been exhibiting a single steady part of the speech, reasonably than excerpts from two totally different factors within the speech.”
“Consequently, this seemed that President Trump had made a direct name for violent motion. The BBC wish to apologise for that error of judgement,” it stated, including that “there was no intention to mislead.”
The BBC famous in information protection on Dec. 16 that attorneys for the company had responded at size to the president’s claims, arguing that there was no malice within the edit and that Trump was not harmed by this system, provided that he was re-elected shortly after it aired.
BBC Information additionally famous that the company’s attorneys stated the BBC didn’t have the rights to, and didn’t, distribute the Panorama programme on its U.S. channels and was restricted to viewers within the U.Ok.
A view of the BBC constructing as BBC Director-Normal Tim Davie and Head of Information Deborah Turness have resigned after revelations {that a} documentary about U.S. President Donald Trump contained edited and deceptive footage associated to the 2021 Capitol riot, in London, United States on November 10, 2025.
Rasid Necati Aslim | Anadolu | Getty Pictures
The BBC went into disaster mode as information of the rogue documentary edit emerged, with Director Normal Tim Davie and Head of Information Deborah Turness resigning within the ensuing furore. That was not sufficient to forestall questions being requested in regards to the BBC’s editorial requirements, nonetheless.
What occurs subsequent?
It is unclear how attorneys for the BBC will reply to Trump’s lawsuit, however it may be tempted to settle with Trump with a view to keep away from a doubtlessly prolonged and expensive courtroom case. Nonetheless, a BBC spokesperson has beforehand stated that whereas the company “sincerely regrets” the style during which the documentary clip was edited, they “strongly disagree there’s a foundation for a defamation declare.
The British authorities has defended the company, with Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy wanting to differentiate between “editorial failings” and the BBC’s critics who, she stated, have been ” launching a sustained assault on the establishment itself.” U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in the meantime, stated he believed in a “sturdy and unbiased BBC.”
It isn’t the primary time Trump has pursued authorized motion in opposition to massive media organisations, with lawsuits launched in opposition to the Wall Avenue Journal, CNN, CBS, ABC and New York Occasions lately, with some circumstances settled and others dismissed.
— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
