Why is Trump suing the BBC? How a controversial speech edit sparked a $10 billion lawsuit

US president Donald Trump’s $10 billion dollar lawsuit against the BBC will go to trial in February 2027, a Florida judge has ordered.

The move to allow the trial to go ahead came after a judge rejected the BBC’s application to delay the process of discovery in the case, where each side provides the other with documents and evidence.

The broadcaster previously apologised but refused to offer compensation to Trump over a controversial Panorama documentary, which is accused of misleadingly editing a speech Mr Trump delivered on 6 January 2021.

The programme, aired just a week before the 2024 US election results, spliced two distinct clips, creating the impression that Mr Trump instructed 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.”

Critics argue that the edit was deceptive, omitting a lengthy segment where Mr Trump urged his supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

The controversy led to the resignations of two senior BBC executives and a non-executive board member.

Here is how the saga unfolded.

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The Telegraph reported that a memo on impartiality by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, had raised concerns in the summer about the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?

It said the clips were spliced together to make it appear he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.

The Telegraph story prompted claims that the corporation selectively edited the speech and misled the public.

Mr Trump’s press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in the first comments by the White House on the row, later told the Telegraph: “This purposefully dishonestly, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100 per cent fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom.”

Tim Davie announced he would step down as director-general of the BBC after five years in the role, saying there have “been some mistakes made” and he had to “take ultimate responsibility”.

The chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, also announced her resignation on Sunday night, declaring in her statement that the controversy had “reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love”.

She went on: “As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me – and I took the decision to offer my resignation to the director-general last night.

“In public life, leaders need to be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down.”

Though she agreed that mistakes were made, she rejected claims that the BBC was institutionally biased.

The resignations came after Dame Caroline Dinenage, chairwoman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, wrote to BBC chairman Samir Shah asking what actions he would take over the controversy.

Mr Trump welcomed the BBC resignations and claimed there had been an attempt to “step on the scales of a presidential election”, adding on social media: “What a terrible thing for Democracy!”

Mr Shah responded to Dame Caroline’s letter saying the corporation would like to “apologise for that error of judgment”.

He said there have been more than 500 complaints since the publication of the memo, adding: “We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action.”

Earlier in the day, Dame Caroline said Mr Davie “ignored” concerns raised in Mr Prescott’s report.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today she was “very sad” about Mr Davie’s resignation, calling him “an effective leader at the BBC” but said he “should have reacted with concern and examined the claims, but just ignored it”.

When she arrived at Broadcasting House in central London on Monday, Ms Turness told reporters the corporation is “not institutionally biased” and the journalists are not “corrupt”.

Downing Street also rejected claims that the BBC is corrupt or institutionally biased, with the prime minister’s official spokesman adding it is “important that the BBC acts to maintain trust and correct mistakes quickly when they occur”.

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Mr Trump sent an ultimatum to the BBC demanding it retract “false” and “defamatory” statements made about him in the Panorama documentary, or face a billion-dollar legal action.

In a letter to the corporation, Mr Trump’s lawyers said: “Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to recover damages for the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that the BBC has caused him to suffer, with all rights and remedies being expressly reserved by President Trump.”

The White House may also consider restricting the corporation’s access to “open press events” as a result of the edit, according to a senior official quoted in the Telegraph.

On the same day, Mr Davie told staff the corporation has to “stand up for our journalism”, and insisted it will control its own narrative, which “will not just be given by our enemies”.

In remarks to BBC staff, he said: “We have to be very clear and stand up for our journalism.

“We are a unique and precious organisation, and I see the free press under pressure, I see the weaponisation. I think we’ve got to fight for our journalism.”

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Mr Trump told Fox News the BBC “defrauded the public”, adding: “I think I have an obligation to do it, you can’t allow people to do that.

“I guess I have to. They defrauded the public, and they’ve admitted it. This is within one of our great allies, supposedly our great ally.

“That’s a pretty sad event. They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical.

“They showed me the results of how they butchered it up. It was very dishonest, and the head man qui,t and a lot of the other people quit.”

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer said he believed in a “strong and independent” BBC but it needed to “uphold the highest standards”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey claimed Mr Trump was “trying to destroy our BBC” and called on Sir Keir to “tell President Trump to drop his demand for a billion-dollar settlement” and guarantee that he “will not get a single penny from British licence fee payers”.

Sir Keir replied: “I believe in a strong and independent BBC. Some would rather the BBC didn’t exist. Some of them are sitting up there. I’m not one of them.

“In an age of disinformation, the argument for impartial British news service is stronger than ever, and where mistakes are made, they do need to get their house in order, and the BBC must uphold the highest standards to be accountable and correct errors quickly.”

The BBC officially apologised to Mr Trump over the editing of the speech, which appeared in the Panorama documentary, adding it was an “error of judgment” and the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms”.

The corporation, however, rejected the US president’s claims that he had been defamed as well as his demands for compensation.

Mr Shah sent a personal letter to the White House to apologise for the editing of the speech but added: “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

Mr Trump said he will sue the BBC after the corporation apologised but declined to compensate him.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday, he said: “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion (£759.8 million) and $5 billion (£3.79 billion), probably sometime next week.”

Mr Trump also told the Daily Telegraph that Sir Keir was “very embarrassed” by the incident and said he would speak with him over the weekend.

He said: “I think I have to do it. They’ve even admitted that they cheated… they changed the words coming out of my mouth.

“The people of the UK are very angry about what happened.”

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Mr Shah told staff the BBC was “determined to fight” Mr Trump after the president announced he was suing the corporation.

In an email seen by Sky News, the chair said there was no basis for a defamation case. “There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements”, he said.

“In all this, we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public.

“I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case, and we are determined to fight this.”

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BBC board member Shumeet Banerji resigned from his role, citing “governance issues” as the reason behind his exit.

Mr Banerji said in a letter that he was “not consulted” about the events leading up to the resignations of the director general, Mr Davie, and BBC News chief executive, Ms Turness.

According to the BBC, his blaming of governance issues appeared to be a direct criticism of the chair, Mr Shah and other members of the board.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Shumeet Banerji today notified the BBC board of his resignation. Mr Banerji’s term on the board as a non-executive director was due to end at the end of December, and we thank him for his service.”

Mr Shah and board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of MPs.

The BBC chair said: “I regret the mistakes that have been made”, adding that the corporation should have been faster to apologise to Trump.

“Looking back, I think we should have made the decision [to respond] earlier, in May,” he said.

Turning to Mr Davie’s resignation, he added: “I wish, and the board wishes, that the director general had not resigned. He had our full confidence throughout.”

On Monday, 15 December, Trump announced that he would be suing the BBC for up to $10bn – double the amount he previously suggested.

The US president alleged the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” edited his 6 January speech.

In his complaint, Trump sought $5bn in damages each on two counts: one alleging that the BBC defamed him, and another that it violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

The following day, the BBC responded: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case.”

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The following month, reports indicated that the BBC sought to have Trump’s case dismissed. Court documents suggest that the broadcaster claimed to a Florida court that it lacks “personal jurisdiction” over them, the court venue is “improper” and that Trump has “failed to state a claim”.

The corporation is understood to have argued that it did not create, produce or broadcast the documentary in Florida and that Trump’s claim that the documentary was available in the US on the streaming service BritBox is untrue.

The broadcaster’s lawyers said in court documents: “Simply clicking on the link that plaintiff cites for this point shows it is not on BritBox.”

On Thursday, 12 February, a Florida judge rejected the BBC’s request to delay the process of discovery in the case, instead ordering that the lawsuit would proceed to trial in February 2027.

The order, made on 11 February, said: “This matter is set for trial during the court’s two-week trial calendar beginning February 15, 2027. Counsel for all parties shall also appear at a calendar call at 1:45 p.m. on February 9, 2027.

“Unless instructed otherwise by subsequent order, the trial and all other proceedings in this case shall be conducted in Courtroom 12-4 at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 400 N. Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33128.”