The BBC is preparing to ask a US court to throw out Donald Trump’s $5bn (£3.7bn) defamation lawsuit, arguing that the case has no legal footing and should not be
heard in Florida.
Court filings submitted on Monday show the broadcaster intends to file a motion to dismiss the claim, which centres on the editing of Trump’s 6 January 2021 speech in a ‘Panorama’ documentary. The BBC will argue that the Florida court lacks personal jurisdiction over the corporation, that the venue is inappropriate, and that Trump has failed to set out a valid legal claim.
The lawsuit, filed last month, accuses the BBC of defamation and of breaching a US trade practices law. Trump alleges that the documentary misleadingly edited his words in a way that suggested he directly incited violence ahead of the Capitol riot.
The BBC has previously apologised for the edit, acknowledging that it gave a “mistaken impression” of Trump’s remarks. However, the corporation has firmly rejected claims for financial compensation and insists the mistake does not meet the legal threshold for defamation.
In its court submission, the BBC will also argue that the ‘Panorama’ programme was not broadcast in the United States and therefore cannot reasonably form the basis of a US defamation claim. Trump has claimed the documentary aired on BritBox, a streaming service linked to the BBC, but the broadcaster disputes this.
The corporation further contends that Trump has failed to show he suffered any actual harm as a result of the programme. Lawyers point out that he went on to win re-election after the documentary aired and carried Florida by a decisive margin, undermining claims of reputational or political damage.
A key part of the BBC’s defence centres on the legal standard of “actual malice”, which applies to public figures in US defamation cases. The broadcaster argues Trump cannot plausibly claim the documentary was produced with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
The disputed edit involved combining two separate moments from Trump’s hour-long speech on 6 January 2021. Early in the address, he told supporters: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” Nearly an hour later, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
In the ‘Panorama’ programme, these remarks were edited together, creating the impression that Trump directly urged the crowd to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell”. The BBC maintains that, while the edit was wrong, it formed only around 15 seconds of a programme that otherwise included extensive context, coverage of Trump’s supporters, and balanced reporting on his political comeback.
The case has already had significant repercussions within the BBC. A leaked internal memo last November criticised the handling of the edit, leading to the resignations of director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.
In the latest filings, the BBC has also asked the court to pause all discovery — the pre-trial process of exchanging evidence — until a decision is made on its motion to dismiss.
If the case is allowed to proceed, court documents indicate a potential trial date in 2027. Photo by Chmee2, Wikimedia commons.