Trump threatens to sue BBC for $1B over allegedly 'false, defamatory' documentary on J6 remarks

President Trump is threatening to sue the BBC for $1 billion for "false, defamatory" statements made in a documentary about his rally speech on Jan. 6, 2021.

In a letter sent to BBC Chair Samir Shah and general counsel Sarah Jones on Sunday, Trump attorney Alejandro Brito threatened a lawsuit over a BBC Panorama documentary that allegedly included "false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements" about the president, and demanded it be retracted immediately, Fox News reported.

"Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to recover damages for the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that the BBC has caused him to suffer, with all rights and remedies being expressly reserved by President Trump," the letter reads. 

"In the Panorama documentary, titled ‘Trump: A Second Chance,’ which was first broadcast on October 28, 2024—a week before the 2024 United States presidential election—the BBC intentionally sought to completely mislead its viewers by splicing together three separate parts of President Trump’s speech to supporters," the letter continues. "The documentary showed President Trump telling supporters: ‘We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, and I’ll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.’"

According to the letter, Trump actually said, "We’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you, we’re going to walk down, we’re going to walk down any one of you but I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."

The letter added that the BBC also allegedly edited out Trump saying, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."

Trump demands "a full and fair retraction of the documentary and any and all other false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements about President Trump in as conspicuous a manner as they were originally published," an immediate apology and compensation, according to the letter.

"If the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages. The BBC is on notice," the letter concluded.

A BBC spokesperson told Fox News, "We will review the letter and respond directly in due course."

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said in a statement, "The BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the Presidential Election. President Trump will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in lies, deception, and fake news." 

BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News and Current Affairs chief Deborah Turness resigned over the documentary. BBC Chair Samir Shah said in a statement, "we accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement," The Hill news outlet reported.