Why is Donald Trump threatening to sue the BBC?

The BBC is in the midst of a crisis after its director general and head of news resigned, and US President Donald Trump threatened it with a $1bn (£760m) lawsuit.

It has been under fire after criticism that an episode of the Panorama documentary TV series misled viewers when it edited a speech by Trump, making it look like he was explicitly urging people to attack the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

BBC chairman Samir Shah has apologised for that “error of judgement”. Trump has demanded a retraction, an apology and compensation.

Concerns over the Trump documentary emerged when a leaked internal memo was published by the Telegraph newspaper. Among other things, the document also criticised the BBC’s reporting of trans issues, and BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.

The Panorama documentary in question, called Trump: A Second Chance?, was broadcast on 28 October 2024, just days before the US presidential election.

In November 2025, the Telegraph newspaper published a report, saying it had seen a leaked BBC memo written by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the corporation’s editorial standards committee.

The memo suggested that the one-hour documentary had edited parts of Trump’s speech together, so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.

In his speech in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, Trump said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

However, in the Panorama edit he was shown saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The two sections of the speech that were edited together were more than 50 minutes apart.

The “fight like hell” comment was taken from a section where Trump discussed how “corrupt” US elections were. In total, he used the words “fight” or “fighting” 20 times.

Mr Prescott’s memo said Panorama’s “distortion of the day’s events” would leave viewers asking: “Why should the BBC be trusted, and where will this all end?”

When the issue was raised with managers, the memo continued, they “refused to accept there had been a breach of standards”.

In a letter dated 10 November to Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sports Committee, Samir Shah said the BBC has received more than 500 complaints since the Telegraph’s story was published.

“It has also prompted further reflection from the BBC,” he said.

“The conclusion of that deliberation is that we accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement.”

After BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resigned, the US president said top people in the BBC were quitting or being fired “because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th”.

Trump’s lawyers subsequently sent a letter to the BBC threatening legal action, and the president went on to tell Fox News that he felt he had “an obligation” to sue the corporation.

The letter from Trump’s lawyers to the BBC demanded that it immediately retract the documentary, issue an apology, and compensate him.

The BBC was given a deadline to respond of Friday, 14 November, at 22:00 GMT. The letter added that if the BBC did not comply, the president might file legal action “for no less than $1bn in damages”.

The BBC has said it will respond in due course.

Trump has signalled an intention to bring any eventual litigation in the US state of Florida, where he has legal residency, rather than in the UK.

There is normally more “respect for freedom of expression in the US” courts, legal expert Joshua Rozenberg told BBC Radio 4. Someone in Trump’s position would normally have to show “that the person you’re accusing acted with malice”, he said.

The president would also have to show that he has suffered some major loss from the programme.

“So there are definitely restrictions on being able to sue, and arguments that can be put [by the BBC],” Mr Rozenberg said. “But I think it’s worth looking at what happens in the real world.”

Chris Ruddy, founder and chief executive of conservative US media outlet Newsmax Media, and an ally of Trump, said he was very familiar with Florida’s libel laws and is “very assured” that the BBC would win if it does reach court.

“They would prevail because the state of Florida has pretty strong libel laws that defend media companies and free speech,” he said. “What’s happening is that a lot of media companies would prefer not to go through the media spectacle of all this.”

When faced with legal threats from Trump, other US news organisations have chosen to settle – paying out millions before a case reaches court.

As part of his case, Trump would also have to show that the relevant part of the Panorama programme was actually available to view in Florida.

The president’s lawyer has said the “fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide”.

The story has been widely reported, and the relevant clip of Panorama has been available online in recent days during the coverage, but there is no evidence so far to suggest that the documentary itself has been shown in the US.

Mr Prescott raised concerns about several other elements of the BBC’s news output.

He claimed its reporting of trans issues was effectively “censored” by its specialist LGBT reporters, who promoted a pro-trans agenda.

“I was told that time and time again the LGBTQ desk staffers would decline to cover any story raising difficult questions about the trans-debate,” the memo said.

And he pointed to problems with BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, including a claim that the service’s “story treatment was designed to minimise Israeli suffering and paint Israel as the aggressor”.

Other “troubling matters” were raised:

• Mr Prescott said the BBC’s coverage of the 2024 US election was more critical of Trump than of his opponent, Kamala Harris
• He said the BBC published “ill-researched material that suggested issues of racism when there were none”, including in a now-removed BBC Verify story about car insurance
• There was a “selection bias” against sending stories about migration and asylum seekers to BBC News app users as push notifications
• His other criticisms include misrepresenting the percentage of Palestinian women and children who have been killed by Israel’s military in Gaza, and misrepresenting the likelihood of children starving under Israel’s aid blockade

Shah said action has been taken to address “underlying problems” at BBC Arabic.

He also said it was “simply not true” the memo had uncovered issues the BBC had “sought to bury” – nor was it correct to suggest the BBC had done nothing to tackle concerns raised.

Tim Davie, who stepped down, was appointed BBC director general in 2020. Earning between £540,000 and £544,999 a year, he oversees the corporation and is responsible for its editorial, operational and creative leadership.

He did not directly mention Panorama in his resignation statement, although he said: “While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision.

“Overall the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made, and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”

He later told staff that “we’ve got to fight for our journalism”.

Deborah Turness, who also resigned, was appointed CEO of BBC News in 2022, overseeing news and current affairs programmes.

Earning between £430,000 and £434,999, she had responsibility for a team of about 6,000 people, broadcasting to audiences of almost half a billion across the world, in more than 40 languages.

In her statement, Turness said: “The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love.

“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.”

She added: “While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”

Tim Davie has weathered many scandals and crises during his five years leading the BBC.

These include:

Davie’s resignation comes at a sensitive time for the BBC, with the government set to review the corporation’s Royal Charter before the current term expires in 2027.

The charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC which sets out the corporation’s “Object, Mission and Public Purpose”.

The director general is appointed by the BBC Board, which is responsible for ensuring it delivers the corporation’s mission and public purposes.

The BBC Board is led by chair Samir Shah who is one of 10 non-executive members, plus four executive members, including the director general.

Davie’s successor will be the 18th director general in the BBC’s 103-year history.

Names who have been rumoured as potential contenders include Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s recently-departed chief content officer who was in charge of all programming except news.

Other names include Jay Hunt, one of the most experienced executives in British TV, and James Harding, the BBC’s head of news from 2013 to 2018.