On Monday, Donald Trump announced a lawsuit against the BBC for their unforgivable crime of not editing his Jan. 6 speech kindly enough in their Oct. 2024 documentary. His “terrible” words, he insists, were fake. His “beautiful” ones, meanwhile, were apparently ignored by the BBC.
Speaking to reporters after the Mexican Border Defense Medal Presentation on Dec. 15, Trump announced that he is finally moving forward with a lawsuit against the BBC. This comes after his long-running dispute with the network, tied to its Panorama documentary, titled “Trump: A Second Chance?”
The documentary featured clips of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech edited together. But the president framed the case not as a disagreement over context or editorial judgment, but as fabricated speech. His lawyers argued that the documentary was defamatory and harmed his reputation and finances. Speaking to the media on Monday, he announced,
In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said. I guess they used AI or something. So, we’ll be bringing that lawsuit.
Why is Trump suing the BBC?
According to Trump, the BBC selectively chose the “terrible” words from his January 6 speech. He also alleged that they ignored what he repeatedly described as his “beautiful words” about patriotism. The resulting documentary, according to him, makes him say words he didn’t say at all.
They actually put terrible words in my mouth, having to do with January 6th, that I didn’t say. And the beautiful words that I said, talking about patriotism and all of the good things that I said, they didn’t say that.
With that, Trump implied that the problem wasn’t his reckless speech on Jan. 6; it was the BBC quoting him. In fact, he even suggested that the documentary had him “speaking with words that I never said.” In other words, he claims that the BBC invented dialogue entirely. However, the network reportedly only edited parts of his speech together.
What did the BBC do to Trump?
The dispute stems from the BBC’s documentary which aired in October 2024 on its flagship Panorama programme. It included edited clips of Trump’s January 6 speech, before the Capitol riot. Trump’s legal team argued that the edit created a false meaning and created the impression that Trump was directly inciting violence at the Capitol. (via Reuters)
The BBC have acknowledged that the editing was an “error of judgment” and apologized to Trump personally. However, the network did not concede defamation (via Al Jazeera). They explicitly said that the footage was real, and while the edit may have been misleading in sequence or emphasis, it did not fabricate speech or invent statements.
They clarified that there was no AI, voice cloning, or made-up dialogue. Just Trump, saying Trump things, stitched together in a way he didn’t like. The president, meanwhile, rejected the apology outright and publicly floated suing for damages of up to $5 billion. (via News 24)
Trump says he will file the lawsuit by tomorrow
In Trump’s version, the BBC got “caught” by one of their own employees. “They got caught because I believe somebody at the BBC said, ‘This is so bad it has to be reported,’” he said on Monday. Labelling the whole documentary “fake news,” he finally announced that the lawsuit will be filed this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
Published: Dec 16, 2025 05:42 am