President Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion, after it broadcast an episode of its long-running documentary series Panorama that edited one of his speeches in a misleading way. A letter from Trump’s lawyer accuses the BBC of making “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” in the programme.
The Panorama episode, Trump: A Second Chance?, featured an extract from a speech Trump gave on the morning of 6th January 2021, the day of the attempted insurrection by Trump supporters at the US Capitol building in Washington. At an early point in the speech, Trump said: “we’re gonna walk down, and I’ll be there with you... We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, and we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” The speech continued for almost an hour, and in the final passages Trump’s tone became more combative: “And we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”
However, Panorama edited three soundbites from the speech together seemlessly, making Trump appear to say: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, / and I’ll be there with you / And we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.” This went beyond the usual editing for brevity and clarity, as it changed the sequence of his words and spliced together lines that were delivered almost an hour apart. But it did not fundamentally alter the meaning of Trump’s speech, as he was impeached for inciting violence at the Capitol.
The Panorama episode, Trump: A Second Chance?, featured an extract from a speech Trump gave on the morning of 6th January 2021, the day of the attempted insurrection by Trump supporters at the US Capitol building in Washington. At an early point in the speech, Trump said: “we’re gonna walk down, and I’ll be there with you... We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, and we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” The speech continued for almost an hour, and in the final passages Trump’s tone became more combative: “And we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”
However, Panorama edited three soundbites from the speech together seemlessly, making Trump appear to say: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, / and I’ll be there with you / And we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.” This went beyond the usual editing for brevity and clarity, as it changed the sequence of his words and spliced together lines that were delivered almost an hour apart. But it did not fundamentally alter the meaning of Trump’s speech, as he was impeached for inciting violence at the Capitol.
The episode was broadcast twice last year: on BBC1 on 28th October, and repeated on BBC2 on 2nd November. Under UK defamation law, a one-year statute of limitations applies, meaning that Trump could not now sue the BBC in the UK. His home state, Florida, has a two-year statute of limitations for defamation, and Trump’s legal letter to the BBC states that he intends to sue under Florida’s defamation law.
Although a lawsuit would fall within Florida’s statute of limitations, Trump would be almost certain to lose a libel case, as the Panorama episode was not broadcast or streamed by any of the BBC’s American TV services. (BBC1 and BBC2 are UK domestic channels. The programme was available via the BBC iPlayer for a year after its first broadcast, though that service is geoblocked outside the UK.) As the Panorama episode was not accessible to an American audience, it does not fall within the remit of a Florida court.
Panorama’s editing of the Trump speech was criticised in an internal BBC report by Michael Prescott, a former BBC advisor, who accused the programme of “taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance.” His report was leaked to The Daily Telegraph, which published it on 4th November. Two of the BBC’s most senior executives, Director-General Tim Davie and head of BBC News Deborah Turness, both resigned over the controversy five days later. Trump wrote a Truth Social post describing Davie and Turness as “very dishonest”, and thanked the Telegraph for its coverage.
Davie is the third BBC director-general to resign over a controversial programme. Greg Dyke quit alongside BBC chairman Gavin Davies in 2004, following the suicide of David Kelly, who had been the source for a Radio 4 report about the government allegedly ‘sexing up’ a dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. George Entwistle resigned in 2012 after Newsnight falsely accused Alistair McAlpine of child abuse.
Although a lawsuit would fall within Florida’s statute of limitations, Trump would be almost certain to lose a libel case, as the Panorama episode was not broadcast or streamed by any of the BBC’s American TV services. (BBC1 and BBC2 are UK domestic channels. The programme was available via the BBC iPlayer for a year after its first broadcast, though that service is geoblocked outside the UK.) As the Panorama episode was not accessible to an American audience, it does not fall within the remit of a Florida court.
Panorama’s editing of the Trump speech was criticised in an internal BBC report by Michael Prescott, a former BBC advisor, who accused the programme of “taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance.” His report was leaked to The Daily Telegraph, which published it on 4th November. Two of the BBC’s most senior executives, Director-General Tim Davie and head of BBC News Deborah Turness, both resigned over the controversy five days later. Trump wrote a Truth Social post describing Davie and Turness as “very dishonest”, and thanked the Telegraph for its coverage.
Davie is the third BBC director-general to resign over a controversial programme. Greg Dyke quit alongside BBC chairman Gavin Davies in 2004, following the suicide of David Kelly, who had been the source for a Radio 4 report about the government allegedly ‘sexing up’ a dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. George Entwistle resigned in 2012 after Newsnight falsely accused Alistair McAlpine of child abuse.
This is the third time that Trump has personally taken legal action against a news organisation during his second term. The first occasion was earlier this year, when he sued The Wall Street Journal, claiming that a letter he wrote to Jeffrey Epstein didn’t exist. (Since the WSJ lawsuit was filed, the letter has been published, and Trump continues to deny that he wrote it, even though it’s clearly signed by him.) He also filed a lawsuit against The New York Times and the authors of Lucky Loser.
(Trump’s legal letter to the BBC was sent on 9th November, and he has given them until 14th November to retract the Panorama programme, apologise, and pay unspecified compensation. This five-day notice period before a libel lawsuit can be issued is stipulated under Florida’s defamation law, though when Trump sued the Journal, he gave less than five days notice, issuing his lawsuit only a few days after he called Murdoch sekeing a retraction. This could potentially invalidate his case against the Journal.)
Trump has sued numerous other media figures and news organisations over the years, including Bill Maher and CNN. He sued Bob Woodward for copyright infringement, though that case was dismissed. His lawsuit against E. Jean Carroll was also dismissed. His unsuccessful lawsuit against Timothy L. O’Brien’s book TrumpNation sought $5 billion in damages.
Trump has never won a libel case in court, though he has received settlements in two cases. ABC settled after he sued them last year. CBS also agreed to an out-of-court settlement earlier this year after he sued them in 2024.
Occasionally, Trump has filed defamation suits indirectly via his organisations or relatives. His brother sued their niece, Mary Trump, in 2020, though the case was dismissed. A suit filed against the NYT by his presidential campaign also failed. His wife won undisclosed damages from The Daily Telegraph in 2019, and she was awarded $3 million in damages from the Daily Mail in 2017.
(Trump’s legal letter to the BBC was sent on 9th November, and he has given them until 14th November to retract the Panorama programme, apologise, and pay unspecified compensation. This five-day notice period before a libel lawsuit can be issued is stipulated under Florida’s defamation law, though when Trump sued the Journal, he gave less than five days notice, issuing his lawsuit only a few days after he called Murdoch sekeing a retraction. This could potentially invalidate his case against the Journal.)
Trump has sued numerous other media figures and news organisations over the years, including Bill Maher and CNN. He sued Bob Woodward for copyright infringement, though that case was dismissed. His lawsuit against E. Jean Carroll was also dismissed. His unsuccessful lawsuit against Timothy L. O’Brien’s book TrumpNation sought $5 billion in damages.
Trump has never won a libel case in court, though he has received settlements in two cases. ABC settled after he sued them last year. CBS also agreed to an out-of-court settlement earlier this year after he sued them in 2024.
Occasionally, Trump has filed defamation suits indirectly via his organisations or relatives. His brother sued their niece, Mary Trump, in 2020, though the case was dismissed. A suit filed against the NYT by his presidential campaign also failed. His wife won undisclosed damages from The Daily Telegraph in 2019, and she was awarded $3 million in damages from the Daily Mail in 2017.
