Trump Plans Legal Action Against BBC Over Panorama Editing Controversy

Sat Nov 15 2025 06:49:28 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Donald Trump announces intentions to sue the BBC after claims of misleading editing of his speech, potentially seeking damages between $1 billion and $5 billion.

Former President Donald Trump has declared plans to take legal action against the BBC, asserting that a recent edit of his speech by Panorama misrepresented his remarks. Trump alleges the editing gave a false impression that he called for violent action, leading to significant consequences including the resignations of top BBC officials. He demands a large sum in damages and has threatened legal action if the corporation does not provide a retraction.

US President Donald Trump has said he still intends to take legal action against the BBC over how his speech was edited by Panorama.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday evening, Trump stated: We'll sue them for anywhere between a billion and $5bn probably sometime next week.

Trump indicated he would discuss the matter with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend. The BBC recently acknowledged that the edit of Trump's 6 January 2021 speech misrepresented his comments, creating the misleading impression that he had directly called for violent action.

The BBC apologized for the editing but maintained that it would not compensate Trump financially.

Earlier in the week, Trump's legal team issued a threat to sue the BBC for $1 billion unless they issued a retraction, provided an apology, and paid damages. They set a deadline of 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday, which the BBC responded to.

The controversy surrounding the edited speech has also precipitated the resignations of BBC Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness.

Legal searches indicated that no action had yet been filed, and with federal and state courts in Florida closed for the weekend, any potential case may miss immediate filing deadlines.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.