BBC vows to defend itself in $10bn Donald Trump lawsuit [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Tue 16 Dec 2025 05.51 EST
First published on Tue 16 Dec 2025 03.46 EST
The BBC has vowed to defend itself against the $10bn lawsuit that the US president, Donald Trump filed against it. In a complaint filed on Monday evening, Trump sought $5bn in damages each on two counts, alleging that the BBC defamed him, and that it violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Trump alleged the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively” edited the 6 January speech he gave before the attack on the US Capitol. The Panorama edit, which was broadcast just over a year ago and took sections of his speech almost an hour apart, suggested Trump told the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.”
In a short statement on Tuesday, a BBC spokesperson said: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.” Stephen Kinnock, a health minister, said it was “right that the BBC stand firm” against Trump’s claims of defamation and that he hoped “they will continue to do so”.
“I think they have apologised for one or two of the mistakes that were made in that Panorama programme, but they’ve also been very clear that there is no case to answer in terms of Mr Trump’s accusations on the broader point about libel or defamation,” Kinnock told Sky News. “The government is a massive supporter of the BBC. The Labour party will always stand up for the BBC as a vitally important institution.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/16/bbc-bosses-right-to-stick-by-their-guns-against-trump-says-minister
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