Trump threatens to sue BBC for $1bn over Panorama scandal

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to sue the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for $1bn (£760m) over biased media coverage.

Trump raised concerns that the BBC had wrongly edited his speech by combining two different clips before the January 6 riots in 2021 to fuel violence and hate speech.

The legal team accusing the broadcasting corporation said that the BBC tried to interfere in the presidential elections last year by selectively editing one of his speeches for the Panorama episode.

The Panorama documentary that aired last year in October 2024 centers on a misleading edit of "Trump’s speech" which made it look like the U.S. President explicitly urged his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol in the hours before the riot started.

Trump’s lawyers said that the BBC has badly trashed his reputation, and the Panorama program was designed to defame the U.S. President.

They further stated that the media outlet's statement had been viewed by tens of millions of people worldwide, causing President Trump overwhelming financial and reputational harm.

The letter issued to the BBC extracts "full and final retraction" of the documentary, an "apology" from the BBC, and "to compensate President Trump" for the harm caused.

The letter ends with the deadline set by Trump’s lawyers stating, "if the broadcasting corporation fails to address these three demands by Friday, November 14, 2025, they will be sued for $1bn."

As reported by Sky News, Trump’s overall narrative explains the critical coverage: a mistake on this scale can threaten to undermine scrutiny of the White House.

Additionally, the BBC's director general, Tim Davie, and Head of News and Current Affairs, Deborah Turness, have resigned.

The management informed that they knew that the BBC is an unbiased institution.

However, they still admitted their mistake, calling the edit an ‘error of judgement’, and are preparing to apologize.

The BBC said on Monday, November 10, 2025, that it was reviewing the letter and would “respond directly in due course.”