Getty ImagesDonald Trump has removed the BBC’s commercial arm from his defamation lawsuit over a controversial episode of Panorama, but the US president is still pursuing his multi-billion dollar claim against the BBC as a whole.
Last December, Trump sued the BBC and subsidiaries BBC Studios Productions and BBC Studios Distribution over a 2024 Panorama episode that edited together different sections of a speech he gave.
The BBC argued that the Studios companies had “no role in creating or producing the documentary, and did not broadcast it in the US”.
A court filing on Thursday confirmed Trump’s agreement that the claims against BBC Studios should be dismissed, but added: “President Trump shall continue prosecuting his causes of action against defendant British Broadcasting Corporation.”
The lawsuit – filed in Florida – accuses the BBC of “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring” his speech.
The BBC has apologised for an editing error that gave “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”.
However, the BBC has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the programme doesn’t meet the legal criteria for defamation and wasn’t made available on its US platforms.
Last month, Trump’s lawyers admitted they had no evidence that the documentary was available in the US on the BBC’s BritBox subscription service, as they had originally claimed, or on BBC.com, BBC Select or through US broadcasters.
Earlier this week, the president’s lawyers challenged the BBC’s motion to dismiss the claim, saying the broadcaster had put forward “an untenable proposition” and the case’s dismissal would be “a wrongful and unjust result”.
They said a jury should decide on the defamation issue, and that the BBC’s geo-blocking technology did not reliably prevent US-based viewers from watching its UK-only iPlayer streaming platform.
They said the documentary’s production staff gave several people instructions on how to watch it in the US, and also pointed to a post promoting the programme on X.
“Together, the evidence shows coordinated BBC conduct directed toward the United States, not ‘mere accessibility’,” his legal papers said.
“The BBC created an election-timed documentary about a Florida-resident US presidential candidate, promoted it globally through an unrestricted official channel, and positioned it for international and U.S. consumption.”
Meanwhile, last month the US government said it was “considering participating in this litigation” after the BBC served subpoenas for information from a number of federal agencies.
A trial date in February 2027 has been scheduled, should the case progress.
Criticism of the Panorama edit emerged last November when a leaked internal BBC memo was published by the Telegraph newspaper. This led to the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness.
