Donald Trump is arguing with the British broadcaster BBC over a TV program in which excerpts from a previous speech by the US President were shown. The Republican feels he has been treated unfairly and is threatening a billion-dollar lawsuit. An important deadline expires this Friday.
What is the dispute about?
It’s about the broadcaster’s compilation of a speech by Trump on January 6, 2021 for the program “Panorama”. At that time there was a violent storming of the Capitol, the seat of the US Parliament in Washington. Trump supporters tried to prevent Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory from being officially confirmed there. Trump, then voted out but still serving as president in his first term, gave a speech to his supporters that day. Trump has repeatedly claimed in the past that he was deprived of his victory through fraud – without providing any evidence to support this narrative.
The show aired shortly before the 2024 presidential election, which Trump won against Democrat Kamala Harris.
The BBC now admits mistakes. Unintentionally, the impression was created that a coherent section of Trump’s speech was being shown, even though it was excerpts from different parts. This gave the impression that Trump had directly called for violent actions, according to the BBC website.
What is Trump demanding?
In a letter, his legal team threatened the BBC with legal action if the broadcaster did not apologize, withdraw the program and pay compensation.
Has the BBC complied with the demands?
In part. There was an apology and the British broadcaster announced on its website that it would no longer be broadcasting the show. However, the broadcaster does not want to pay compensation. The media company sees no basis for a defamation lawsuit.
Will there now be a lawsuit?
That is unclear. Trump’s lawyers gave the BBC a deadline of Friday evening, 11 p.m. German time (5 p.m. in Washington) and threatened a lawsuit amounting to at least one billion US dollars (the equivalent of more than 860 million euros).
It is not clear from the letter where exactly the lawsuit could be filed. In their argument, the legal team relies on US law.
What do lawyers say about the case?
The BBC had several lawyers speak in its program who supported the broadcaster. “There are more than a few legal stumbling blocks between President Trump and a legal victory against the BBC,” media lawyer Mark Stephens told the broadcaster a few days ago. In the event of a lawsuit in the USA, Trump would have to be able to prove that the broadcaster’s broadcast actually caused him harm. The BBC itself says there is so far no evidence that the program, which appeared before the US election in November 2024, was broadcast in the USA.
According to US lawyer Burt Neuborne, Trump could benefit from the fact that the compilation of the excerpts can be seen as misleading. Even considering this, it is unlikely that a jury would award the US President compensation, the BBC quoted the lawyer as saying.
