BBC calls for Donald Trump’s $10bn defamation claim to be thrown out

The US president announced he was suing the BBC in December 2025 after news emerged that it had edited together one of his speeches in a Panorama documentary, making it appear he had encouraged the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.

The documentary, which aired before the 2024 presidential election, included one section where he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another, from nearly an hour later, where he said: “fight like hell”.

The fallout over the edit caused both BBC Director General Tim Davies and Head of News Deborah Turness to resign.

Though the BBC apologised for the edit and acknowledged it created “the mistaken impression” that Trump had “made a direct call for violent action,” the broadcaster rejected the president’s compensation demands and has maintained that there is no basis for a defamation claim.

According to Reuters, the BBC argues that the lawsuit should be thrown out because ⁠Trump was re-elected despite the documentary being aired.

The broadcaster also said the documentary had not been made available to viewers in Florida, where Trump brought his lawsuit.

The BBC’s request to dismiss the case was filed Monday with a US District Judge Roy K. Altman, who sits in Miami.

US President Donald Trump has said he will sue the BBC, despite the corporation apologising to him. Discover more here.