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Why would Donald Trump sue the BBC for defamation and violating trade practices when he knows he can’t win?
That’s the big question raised by his big decision today (December 16, 2025).
Here’s the BBC:
“The BBC has said it will defend itself against a $5bn (£3.7bn) lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over an edit of his 6 January 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
“Trump accused the broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade practices law, according to court documents filed in Florida.
“The BBC apologised to him last month, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a “basis for a defamation claim”.
“Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech”.”
Lawyers for the BBC “said [it] did not have the rights to – and did not – distribute the Panorama programme on its US channels. While the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.
“Trump’s lawsuit cites agreements the BBC had with other distributors to show content, specifically one with a third-party media corporation, Blue Ant Media, that allegedly had licensing rights to distribute the programme “in North America, including Florida”.
“Blue Ant confirmed it had acquired the distribution rights, but said none of the company’s buyers had aired the documentary in the US. It added that the version of the documentary it received “did not include the edit in question” as the international version had been “cut down in a number of places for time”.
“Blue Ant is not named as a defendant in the case.
“The lawsuit also claims people in Florida may have accessed the programme using a virtual private network (VPN) or via the streaming service BritBox.”
It’s actually $10 billion in total. Trump is suing on two counts.
I have already published an article explaining why Trump is unlikely to win his case.
And I was…
Right or wrong? To find out, head over to The Whip Line.
A subscription unlocks all my analysis and helps keep independent UK political journalism going.
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Trump’s paper tiger: he has launched a lawsuit against the BBC – that he can’t win
Share this post:
Why would Donald Trump sue the BBC for defamation and violating trade practices when he knows he can’t win?
That’s the big question raised by his big decision today (December 16, 2025).
Here’s the BBC:
“The BBC has said it will defend itself against a $5bn (£3.7bn) lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over an edit of his 6 January 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
“Trump accused the broadcaster of defamation and of violating a trade practices law, according to court documents filed in Florida.
“The BBC apologised to him last month, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a “basis for a defamation claim”.
“Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech”.”
Lawyers for the BBC “said [it] did not have the rights to – and did not – distribute the Panorama programme on its US channels. While the documentary was available on BBC iPlayer, it was restricted to viewers in the UK.
“Trump’s lawsuit cites agreements the BBC had with other distributors to show content, specifically one with a third-party media corporation, Blue Ant Media, that allegedly had licensing rights to distribute the programme “in North America, including Florida”.
“Blue Ant confirmed it had acquired the distribution rights, but said none of the company’s buyers had aired the documentary in the US. It added that the version of the documentary it received “did not include the edit in question” as the international version had been “cut down in a number of places for time”.
“Blue Ant is not named as a defendant in the case.
“The lawsuit also claims people in Florida may have accessed the programme using a virtual private network (VPN) or via the streaming service BritBox.”
It’s actually $10 billion in total. Trump is suing on two counts.
I have already published an article explaining why Trump is unlikely to win his case.
And I was…
Right or wrong? To find out, head over to The Whip Line.
A subscription unlocks all my analysis and helps keep independent UK political journalism going.
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