On Monday, December 15, 2025, Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC over the Panorama documentary titled Trump: A Second Chance? that aired in the UK, nearly a week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The President claims that the BBC spliced parts of his Jan. 6 speech, allegedly omitting context and misleading viewers into thinking that he indirectly contributed to inciting the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
1. The Lawsuit
Trump’s lawsuit against the BBC followed his recent warnings about suing the broadcasting company unless it revoked the documentary and offered financial compensation. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Florida, alleges one count of defamation and one count of violating a Florida trade practices law. Trump’s legal team is seeking $5 billion in damages for each count, for a total of $10 billion.
2. The Allegation
According to CourtListener, Trump’s attorneys filed a 33-page complaint, accusing the BBC of publishing “a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction” of the President in the BBC Panorama documentary, a part of which focused on Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech and included remarks such as “fight like hell,” alluding that his words and actions prompted the Jan 6. Capitol insurrection.
3. Claims about the BBC Misleading Viewers
In the lawsuit, Trump’s team claimed that the BBC “intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers” by “splicing together” two clips from the Jan. 6 speech delivered by the President in Washington, D.C., shortly before the Capitol riots began. They alleged that the clips were 55 minutes apart, and noted that the documentary omitted Trump’s statement “calling for peace.”
4. The BBC Accused of Ignoring Internal “Concerns”
As part of the lawsuit, the BBC is also facing accusations of ignoring internal concerns related to the documentary. The suit claimed that “concerns” about the documentary were allegedly addressed internally before it went on air. However, “BBC ignored those concerns and did not take corrective action.”
5. Donald Trump’s Defense
On Monday, Donald Trump noted, “I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth, literally.” He alleged, “They put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said, coming out. I guess they used AI or something.” The President also claimed he only used “beautiful words” during his Jan. 6 speech and accused the BBC of using “terrible words” instead.
6. Official Statement from Donald Trump’s Legal Team
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team also issued an official statement on the legal situation, saying, in part, that the BBC has a “long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda.”
7. The BBC’s Letter to Trump’s Legal Team
A lawyer representing the BBC reportedly wrote a letter to Trump’s letter team. The letter mentioned that the broadcasting company had “no intention of misleading anyone.” The lawyer also argued that the President or his team cannot show that the BBC acted with
actual malice” or sue the broadcaster in Florida, as the documentary did not air in the US and was not made available on the BBC’s website for American viewers.
8. The BBC’s Previous Apology & Response to the Lawsuit
Back in November, the BBC issued an apology to Trump for airing the documentary and admitted the edit had given a “mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.” Although the network stated that it would not air the 2024 programme again, it refused to compensate the President for the same. In response to Monday’s lawsuit, a spokesperson for the BBC said that the broadcasting company “will be defending this case.”
9. Trump Team’s Response to the BBC
Although the BBC issued an apology to Trump in November 2025, the latest lawsuit mentioned that the broadcaster “made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.” Trump’s lawyers further argued that the BBC can be sued in Florida because viewers in the U.S. were able to access the documentary on the BritBox streaming service.
