President Donald Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for $1 billion, accusing the British broadcaster of airing “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” in a recent documentary.
According to Fox News, Trump’s legal team sent a formal notice to BBC Chair Samir Shah and General Counsel Sarah Jones on Sunday, demanding a full retraction of the Panorama documentary “Trump: A Second Chance,” which aired on October 28, 2024 — one week before the U.S. presidential election.
The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, claims the BBC “intentionally sought to completely mislead its viewers” by splicing together different parts of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech and omitting key lines where he urged supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard.
According to the letter, the BBC portrayed Trump as saying:
“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 going to have a country anymore.”
But Trump’s actual words, his attorneys say, were:
“We’re going to walk down… to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
The alleged omission of Trump’s call for peaceful protest, attorney Alejandro Brito wrote, was defamatory under Florida law and caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”
“Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated… reaching tens of millions of people worldwide,” Brito said. “The BBC lacks any viable defense to the overwhelming reputational and financial harm it has caused President Trump to suffer.”
Trump’s legal team is demanding a “full and fair retraction,” an apology, and compensation, warning that failure to comply by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST will result in legal action seeking “no less than $1,000,000,000 in damages.”
The BBC responded briefly, telling Fox News Digital, “We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.”
The controversy follows the resignations of BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Deborah Turness amid growing backlash over the documentary and other editorial disputes. Turness said her departure came because the situation “is causing damage to the BBC, an institution that I love.”
On Truth Social, Trump celebrated their exits, writing:
“The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th… These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election.”
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also blasted the BBC, calling it “100% fake news” and a “propaganda machine.”
The BBC now faces both public scrutiny and potential legal peril as Trump gives the network days to retract the report — or prepare for a billion-dollar battle.
