Controversial program about storming the Capitol Trump files billion-dollar lawsuit against BBC
Trump wants to claim ten billion dollars from the BBC.
Image: dpa
The BBC sees no basis for a libel suit.
Image: dpa
Trump wants to claim ten billion dollars from the BBC.
Image: dpa
The BBC sees no basis for a libel suit.
Image: dpa
Donald Trump threatened to sue the BBC over a TV report about him. An apology from the broadcaster was not enough for the US President. Now he is even topping his threat.
16.12.2025, 06:44
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Donald Trump has sued the BBC for ten billion dollars for a "false and defamatory" portrayal in a program about his speech on January 6, 2021.
- The BBC acknowledged an editing error and apologized, but refuses to pay compensation as it sees no basis for defamation.
- The lawsuit is part of Trump's wider campaign against the media, which he has repeatedly sued and accused of spreading "fake news".
US President Donald Trump has made good on his threat against the BBC and filed a billion-euro lawsuit against the British broadcaster. The statement of claim was received by a court in the US state of Florida. The claim is for a sum of ten billion dollars (around 8.5 billion euros) - previously there had been talk of an amount of between one and five billion dollars.
Trump announced the lawsuit a month ago. The background to this is a dispute over the edited version of a Trump speech from January 6, 2021, which the broadcaster had used for the program "Panorama". It was broadcast shortly before the presidential election in November 2024, in which Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris.
The Republican accuses the renowned broadcaster of a "false, defamatory, misleading, derogatory, inflammatory and malicious" portrayal of him in the program. The broadcaster interfered in the US presidential election and wanted to influence the outcome to its disadvantage.
Controversial program about storming the Capitol
For its broadcast, the BBC had edited together passages from different parts of Trump's speech to his supporters at the time. On that day in January, there was a violent storming of the Capitol in the US capital Washington, where the election victory of Trump's then opponent, Democrat Joe Biden, was to be officially confirmed.
In his speech, Trump - who had been voted out of office after his first term (2017-2021) but was still in office - repeated the repeatedly refuted claim that he had been cheated out of his election victory. After the speech, Trump's supporters stormed the seat of parliament.
BBC: no basis for libel suit
The BBC admitted mistakes in response to Trump's criticism. It had unintentionally created the impression in the broadcast that it was one continuous section of the speech. This could make it appear as if Trump had directly called for violence. The broadcaster also apologized to him. The case was cited as the main reason for the resignation of station boss Tim Davie and journalist Deborah Turness, who is responsible for the news business.
In the lawsuit, Trump accuses the broadcaster of omitting an important part of his speech in order to deliberately put the statements shown in the wrong context.
Trump's legal team had threatened the BBC in a letter that they would file a lawsuit if the broadcaster did not apologize, withdraw the programme and pay compensation. The BBC did state that the program would no longer be broadcast. However, the broadcaster did not want to pay compensation. The media company saw no basis for a libel suit.
Trump's fight against the media
This is not the first time that the US President has taken action against media he dislikes. Since the start of his second term in office in January, he has not only toughened his tone towards journalists, but has also repeatedly resorted to legal means and attempted to discredit or completely prevent reporting about him and his government.
Trump repeatedly refers to false news ("fake news") that he believes renowned media outlets are spreading. He also frequently insults journalists when they ask him questions that he does not like.
One of Trump's tools is to sue media companies - as in the case of the US television stations CBS and ABC. In both cases, the parties agreed on a settlement worth millions without going to trial. Critics see Trump's lawsuits as targeted attempts at intimidation and an attack on the freedom of the press.
The New York Times was also sued
Trump also sued the New York Times. He accuses the newspaper of defaming him before the 2024 presidential election and is demanding billions in damages. The newspaper stated that the lawsuit was legally untenable and rather an attempt to prevent independent reporting
Trump also took on the powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose newspapers generally report rather favorably on the Republican. He is demanding billions from the businessman, whose media portfolio also includes the "Wall Street Journal". Some time ago, the US newspaper reported on Trump's connection to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It concerned an alleged congratulatory letter with salacious content for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003, which is said to bear Trump's name. Trump denies being the author of the letter.
