Donald Trump's legal team has rejected a request by the BBC to provide financial information as part of his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster. The US president's lawyers accused the BBC of a 'fishing expedition' after it sought details to support Trump's claims of reputational and financial harm from a Panorama documentary about the US Capitol riots.
The BBC had asked for records from the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust, which holds Trump's business interests and assets, including income, assets and properties. Trump's Florida-based lawyers, Brito PLLC, called the request 'disproportionate' and said it encompassed entities with no connection to the dispute, amounting to 'tens of thousands of documents' within an 'unreasonable' 30-day timeframe.
Court filings show that Trump's team has made 503 requests for documents, to which the BBC has turned over 45,000 pages. Trump has produced none. The case stems from a Panorama documentary broadcast in October 2024, which spliced together two parts of a speech Trump gave on 6 January 2021, suggesting he told the crowd: 'We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.' The BBC later retracted the clip and apologised.
Trump's lawyers argue the documentary caused 'direct harm' to his 'brand, properties and business'. The BBC has asked a US court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it would have a 'chilling effect' on reporting and that the court lacks jurisdiction as the documentary was not broadcast in the US or Florida. The dismissal claim is ongoing.
In a statement to the Financial Times, a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said the BBC 'intentionally and maliciously defamed' the president and that 'no amount of attempted legal manoeuvres can change that fact'. The spokesperson added: 'President Trump will continue to hold accountable the BBC and all those who traffick in fake news.'
