Trump sues BBC for $5 billion, alleges defamation in documentary
A security guard stands guard outside BBC Broadcasting House after Director General of BBC Tim Davie and Chief Executive of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump, in London, Britain, November 11, 2025.
Hannah Mckay | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Monday night filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC in federal court in Florida, seeking at least $5 billion in damages.
The civil complaint accuses the British public broadcasting company of producing a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump” in a Panorama documentary aired one week before the 2024 election.
Trump’s suit alleges the documentary was produced as part of “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.”
The suit is the latest in a series of defamation complaints that the notoriously litigious president has filed against media outlets.
Trump filed a $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times in September, accusing the newspaper of being a “mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party.
In July, Trump filed a lawsuit seeking $10 billion in damages from media baron Rupert Murdoch and the publisher of The Wall Street Journal over that newspaper’s report that Trump sent his then-friend Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Trump denies sending or authoring that letter, which was among the documents that the notorious sex offender Epstein’s estate has since turned over to a congressional committee.
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