If you’re scratching your head at Trump’s billion-dollar beef with the BBC, you’re not alone — here’s why his lawsuit threat has everyone talking.
The British broadcaster is currently staring down a potential $1.5 billion lawsuit from US President Donald Trump — yes, a billion with a ‘b’ — after the airing of an edited video in a documentary that critics say distorted one of his speeches.
The fallout has already claimed two major heads. Over the weekend, both BBC director-general Tim Davie and news chief executive Deborah Turness resigned after the leak of an internal dossier that accused the broadcaster of “completely misleading” viewers. The controversy centres on a 2024 Panorama documentary titled Trump: A Second Chance?, produced by an external company for the BBC.
The program included a clip of Trump addressing supporters on January 6, 2021 — but the problem is how it was pieced together. The edit made it look like Trump told his crowd to “walk down to the Capitol” and “fight like hell” in one go. In reality, those statements were made nearly an hour apart, per 9News. The section where he also urged supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” was cut out entirely.
BBC chairman Samir Shah has since apologised, admitting the edit “did give the impression of a direct call for violent action”. In a letter to British MPs, he described the decision as “an error of judgment” and promised changes to how editorial standards and complaints are handled.
Still, Trump’s not having it. His lawyer, Alejandro Brito, has sent a letter to the BBC demanding a “full and fair retraction”, an apology, and compensation for what he called “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements”. If those demands aren’t met by Friday 5pm Florida time (9am Saturday AEDT), Trump says he’ll sue for no less than US$1 billion (AUD1.5 billion) in damages.
“If the BBC does not comply with the above … President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights,” Brito wrote in the letter, obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald.
The BBC has confirmed it’s reviewing the letter and will “respond directly in due course”.
The scandal erupted last week when The Telegraph in the UK revealed a leaked internal report written by Michael Prescott, a former BBC editorial adviser, who concluded the documentary had “completely misled” viewers. The broadcaster apparently had known about the issue months earlier but hadn’t acted until the dossier went public — a delay that’s now under scrutiny by British MPs.
Complicating the situation, Trump has argued the documentary interfered in the November 2024 US presidential election, claiming it damaged his campaign in the final week before polling day. His legal team’s challenge in Florida will likely hinge on whether American audiences even saw the program, given it aired on the BBC’s UK channels rather than on BBC America.
Meanwhile, the BBC’s crisis isn’t limited to Trump. The broadcaster has also faced backlash over its coverage of Gaza prompting questions about its institutional balance. But this most recent case, touching directly on the sitting US President, has taken things to another level.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Telegraph the edited clip was “purposefully dishonest” and proof that the BBC was “100 per cent fake news”. Trump himself celebrated Davie and Turness’ resignations on Truth Social, calling the network’s journalists “very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election”.
The UK government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is also watching closely. The BBC’s handling of the affair is now under parliamentary review, with Shah due to testify before MPs this week.
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