President Donald Trump’s latest target in his campaign against mainstream media lies across the Atlantic.
The British Broadcasting Corp. has found itself embattled by conservative critics within the U.K. and beyond after reports that it had presented a misleading edit of Trump’s speech near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The BBC documentary program Panorama, which aired in October last year, spliced together two separate quotes from Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, which he gave to a crowd of his supporters that had gathered in Washington, D.C., to rally around the belief that the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump.
The program quotes Trump as saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” In fact, Trump made those comments at separate times in his speech: he said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.” And around an hour later, he said, “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Some members of the crowd went on to storm the Capitol. Trump’s speech was a key part of his impeachment trial, in which he was accused of having incited his supporters to commit an insurrection.
The edit was raised in an internal memo first reported by the Telegraph. Michael Prescott, an independent advisor to the BBC on its editorial standards and guidelines, shared concerns about “systemic” bias and “inaction” by the BBC’s leadership to deal with problems in its news coverage. Prescott’s memo also raised concerns about the BBC’s coverage of racial diversity, gender identity, trans rights, and Gaza. Prescott, formerly the political editor of the Sunday Times, said in the memo that his concerns were not based on his own political views.
In the eyes of conservative critics of the BBC, the edit has affirmed their view of the public broadcaster’s institutional bias and renewed calls for it to be stripped of its licensing fee, which is part of the BBC’s Royal Charter that is currently under review ahead of its expiration at the end of 2027. Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, a member of the Conservative Party, posted on X, “There is no such thing as an impartial institution now -if there ever was. They have all been captured … If the body is not necessary (eg the BBC) it should be defunded or abolished.” Nigel Farage, another opposition member of the British parliament as part of the right-wing populist Reform U.K. party that is leading in national polls amid frustrations with the Labor-led government, said he spoke with Trump last week. “To say that he was angry would be an understatement,” Farage said on LBC radio on Monday. Farage called for “wholesale changes” at the BBC and said the BBC’s mandatory TV licensing fee paid by U.K. households “cannot survive.”
On Monday, BBC Chairman Samir Shah apologized for the “error of judgment” in a letter to the parliamentary culture, media and sport committee, acknowledging that the edit gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action.” BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday. Shah said the BBC has “published corrections where we have got things wrong; changed editorial guidance to make the BBC’s position on issues clearer; made changes to leadership where the problems point to underlying issues; and carried out formal disciplinary measures.”
Defenders of the broadcaster see the current onslaught on the BBC as politically motivated from the right. “The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack,” John Simpson, a longtime BBC correspondent, posted on X. Robert Shrimsley, U.K. chief political commentator and executive editor of the Financial Times, posted, “The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.” Insiders at the BBC told the Guardian that the way Turness was ultimately pushed out was akin to “a coup.”
As the attacks on the BBC have reverberated beyond the U.K. all the way to Washington, D.C., the BBC has become just the latest media organization to come under the Trump Administration’s fire.
Trump sent a letter dated Sunday to the BBC threatening a lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion in damages if the news organization does not publicly apologize, compensate him for “harm caused,” and pull the documentary, which contained the edited remarks and aired before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
“The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday. “These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”
An attorney for Trump said Monday that the BBC had defamed him “by intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the Presidential Election,” although it is not clear that the edit was an attempt at political interference.
It’s part of a pattern that has escalated during Trump’s second presidential term, as his Administration goes after perceived media adversaries, many of which have settled lawsuits with payments or otherwise capitulated to Trump’s pressure no matter the merit.
“News outlets really realize that spending a lot of time and money with Trump in court is not worth it for them,” Christina Bellantoni, a professor at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, told Bloomberg. “I worry in five years, our media landscape will be completely reshaped and some of these lawsuits are a factor in that.”
Here’s a look back at some of the past and ongoing media battles the Trump Administration has waged.
ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel
In September, ABC suspended late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s show Jimmy Kimmel Live! over on-air comments he made after the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension came after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened ABC with regulatory action and implied that the FCC could revoke ABC’s broadcasting license. Carr also appeared to threaten to revoke the broadcasting licenses of parent company Disney’s affiliate stations if they didn’t follow suit, which he denied.
Trump celebrated the suspension of Kimmel in a Truth Social post: “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.” He appeared to also urge NBC to cancel the shows of late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, adding in the post, “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
But others saw the apparent pressure of the Trump Administration on Disney as a blatant infringement of free speech and free press. Senate Republicans raised concerns about the FCC’s threats, while cancellations of Disney+ subscriptions spiked after Kimmel’s suspension.
After Disney reinstated Kimmel, Trump suggested he might take legal action. “Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution,” he posted on Truth Social in September. “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Trump also sued ABC last year, alleging that anchor George Stephanopoulos’ comments saying Trump had been found “liable for rape” were defamatory. ABC agreed to settle the lawsuit, agreeing to pay Trump’s future presidential foundation $15 million. (Trump has been found civilly liable for sexual abuse—but not for rape—of writer E. Jean Carroll.)
Lawsuits against CBS
Trump sued CBS’ parent company Paramount last year, alleging that a segment on the newsmagazine show 60 Minutes had deceptively edited a quote from Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. CBS denied the allegations and said the quote was trimmed in line with journalistic standards. Paramount, however, agreed at the start of July to pay $16 million to settle the lawsuit and to release transcripts of 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates in the future.
Days after late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked Paramount’s settlement with Trump, CBS said it was cancelling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, citing financial reasons. At the time, Paramount still needed the FCC’s approval for its merger with Skydance Media, which was formally approved on July 24.
Read More: Kimmel and Colbert Cancellations Reveal Trump’s Media Suppression Strategy, Experts Warn
Carr also reopened a news distortion complaint over the same interview that had been dismissed by outgoing FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. Trump urged him to “impose the maximum fines and punishment” on CBS. The complaint is currently under investigation.
Paramount Skydance has since seen a drastic remaking of the network. Its new CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, bought conservative-leaning media outlet the Free Press and appointed its founder Bari Weiss as the editor-in-chief of CBS. Weiss has already reportedly overseen significant layoffs and changes to the outlet’s editorial vision. Trump, who has publicly approved of Weiss’ work, praised the network’s new leadership and appeared on “60 Minutes” earlier this month.
Targeting public broadcasters
The Trump Administration has targeted publicly funded broadcasters, which the right has also accused of liberal bias. In a May executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” Trump ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The CPB, a nonprofit corporation established by Congress, announced in August that it would shut down after Trump signed a law cutting $1.1 billion in public broadcast funding.
Like with ABC, Trump has also taken aim at other public broadcasters through the FCC. Carr has opened probes into NPR and PBS over sponsorship and underwriting practices.
Trump in March also signed an executive order effectively dismantling the parent organization of Voice of America, an international broadcaster established during World War II that served as an anti-propaganda tool to audiences and broadcasts in nearly 50 languages worldwide. The Trump Administration has moved to fire hundreds of employees from VOA, and the organization stopped broadcasting in October amid the government shutdown.
Lawsuit against WSJ over Epstein letter
Trump also filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, over a July article that reported on an alleged message and lewd drawing by Trump to convicted sex offender and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday.
Trump denied writing the letter, telling the Journal, “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. … It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
Trump posted on Truth Social after the report was published, “The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued. Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so. The Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Emma Tucker, was told directly by Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE, but Emma Tucker didn’t want to hear that. Instead, they are going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway.”
The Journal, which didn’t initially print the letter in question but rather quoted and described it before the House Oversight Committee released it among records from Epstein’s estate, has defended its reporting, and filed a motion last month to dismiss the case.
“This meritless lawsuit threatens to chill the speech of those who dare to publish content that the President does not like,” the Journal’s lawyers wrote in a court filing. Attorneys for Trump have asked that the lawsuit proceed.
Lawsuit against NYT over election coverage
In September, Trump sued the New York Times and Penguin Random House for $15 billion, accusing the newspaper of being a “mouthpiece” for Democrats in the leadup to the 2024 election. He argued that the 2024 book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success by Times investigative reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig and three Times articles were part of a “decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation” against him.
The filing was struck on Sept. 19 by District Judge Steven D. Merryday, who wrote that, “even assuming that after finally ‘melting’ the defendants’ alleged ‘iceberg of falsehoods’ the plaintiff prevails for each reason alleged in the complaint — even assuming all of that — a complaint remains an improper and impermissible place for the tedious and burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments.”
“A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary. A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner,” Merryday continued.
Trump refiled an amended complaint on Oct. 19.
“The ‘Times’ has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole,” Trump posted on Truth Social in September. “I am PROUD to hold this once respected ‘rag’ responsible, as we are doing with the Fake News Networks such as our successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount, who knew that they were falsely ‘smearing’ me through a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration, which was, in effect, a malicious form of defamation, and thus, settled for record amounts.”
The Times has said that the lawsuit “has no merit.”
Trump also has an ongoing defamation lawsuit against the Des Moines Register over a 2024 election poll he claimed presented the contest between himself and Harris in Iowa as narrower than expected. A federal judge in Iowa dismissed a similar lawsuit from a subscriber to the newspaper this month, but Trump’s lawsuit will still be heard in an Iowa state court.
White House and Pentagon reporter restrictions
The White House and various executive departments have also instituted new restrictions aimed at regulating a “very disruptive” press, including requiring Defense journalists to only report on information that had been approved for release by War Secretary Pete Hegseth. Instead of agreeing to the rules, dozens of reporters chose to hand in their access badges and leave the Pentagon last month.
The Administration has also proposed new visa rules for foreign journalists, which would require visa-holders to renew their legal status every 240 days (or every 90 days for Chinese nationals) in order to continue working in the U.S.
