Trump's BBC lawsuit 'puts him on the stand'

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Donald Trump could be forced to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth if he goes ahead with his $10billion lawsuit against the BBC. Lawyers for the broadcaster are said to be considering launching an aggressive defence. And they could make the US president face questions about his actions during the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021. A source close to the case told the Mirror: "The moment Trump filed this case, he opened the door. He thinks he can attack the BBC for $10bn. But he could expose himself to questioning that could finally pin down what he did, what he knew and when."

Posted by qcp at 09:19 AM | 6 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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More: A BBC spokesperson said: "As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case." The US legal source told the Mirror: "Trump thinks this lawsuit puts the BBC on trial " in reality, it puts him on the stand. He has finally walked into a process he cannot control with a Tweet or a rally." The BBC will be preparing discovery demands requiring Mr Trump to turn over internal communications about the Panorama episode, as well as emails, memos, drafts and briefing notes covering January 6. Every answer, every document, every sworn statement would be legally binding, with perjury charges looming over any falsehood. Our source added: "If Trump wants billions, he's going to have to pay for it in disclosure. He's never faced questioning like this. The evidence demands will be relentless. No one has ever been able to pin Trump down on his movements during the riot. If the BBC's legal team deposes him, that changes. They'll have him answering for every minute."

#1 | Posted by qcp at 2025-12-17 09:20 AM | Reply

Trump will quietly drop this lawsuit.

#2 | Posted by Alexandrite at 2025-12-17 09:26 AM | Reply

He was hoping for a quick settlement from BBC like cowardly CBS did.

He's a bully and the only way to deal with one is punch them back in the nose.

#3 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-12-17 10:03 AM | Reply

A differing view:

Court battle could backfire on BBC

So there will be a temptation for the BBC to tell Mr Trump: "See you in court." That, though, could backfire spectacularly even if the BBC went on to win.

Under the rules of discovery Mr Trump's team would be entitled to demand access to internal BBC communications about Mr Trump.

It is beyond doubt that lots of BBC employees find Mr Trump repellent, so would the BBC be willing to run the risk of allowing Mr Trump to see what its staff say to each other about him? If the BBC had to hand over emails that mention Mr Trump, would those emails also contain disparaging comments about other public figures? Like Mr Trump's friend Nigel Farage, perhaps?

Mr Davie and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, resigned in the wake of The Telegraph's revelations, but plenty of people who are still at the BBC might rather not have their emails raked over by Mr Trump's legal team.

One former BBC staffer said: "I'm pretty sure the BBC will want to do anything they can to avoid having to disclose what people have said about Trump in internal messages.

"And even if people at the BBC have been careful about what they put in writing, the US court would presumably want to see any emails from the external production company involved in making the Panorama documentary, which would be outside the BBC's control."

www.telegraph.co.uk

#4 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-12-17 10:13 AM | Reply

"Court battle could backfire on BBC"

That's not what backfire means.

#5 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-12-17 10:16 AM | Reply

The case is about the editing and misrepresentation of his public comments, which the BBC have already acknowledged . Of course they should try to get it dismissed with as much bluster as they can, but I don't see it ending well for them either way.

#6 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-12-17 11:19 AM | Reply