Lawyers explain how likely it is Trump will get $1 billion from the BBC

Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion for their Panorama documentary (Image: Getty)

Law experts have said that Donald Trump’s threat to sue the BBC is “unlikely” to reach court. Defamation lawyer Daniel Taylor said that Trump’s $1 billion ultimatum is a “fanciful” figure, but believes that the BBC will probably have to settle and pay “millions” in damages.

It comes after the BBC misleadingly edited a Panorama documentary, which made it appear that Trump explicitly incited the 2021 January 6 Capitol attacks. On hearing about the documentary, the president demanded the BBC apologise or threatened to sue them for $1 billion. Mr Taylor, partner at Taylor Hampton law firm, told Express.co.uk: “Obviously, the figure of $1 billion is to put maximum pressure on the BBC. He’s never going to recover anything like that. I think the recent settlements he’s made with various companies in the US were in the millions. One of them was $16 million recently. So the figure is fanciful.”

Tim Davie resigned as director general of the BBC amid the Panorama controversy (Image: Getty)

Mr Taylor added that the BBC “need to get really, really rapid advice from a Floridian media lawyer” to plan their next moves as the president is planning to sue through courts in Florida. Trump can only go through American courts as the UK has a one year deadline on defamation claims following initial publishing - the panorama documentary aired over a year ago in October 2024.

In Florida, that deadline is two years so the documentary is still in date for litigation. There is also an added bonus that there is no cap to how much you can demand in damages, hence the huge $1 billion sum. In the UK, there is a cap of around £300,000, Mr Taylor said.

Even so, Mr Taylor said he would be “surprised if it reaches court”, adding that “97% of these cases settle before trial”. The nature of this particular case also adds to the improbability of it reaching court Mr Taylor believes: “If this was to go to court that Trump’s going have to spend a lot of time preparing for court and would have to appear as a witness. Is he going to want to do that as president? I’d be very surprised.”

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But it does not mean the BBC will be without trouble, according to Mr Taylor. When asked how much a potential settlement could cost the media outlet, he said: “It’s certainly in the millions,” adding that “It all depends on the appetite for the BBC in wanting to fight it.

“They do appear to be on the ropes at the moment and may just want to get rid of it. But we all know that Donald Trump is a famously aggressive litigator and he may push them to the ultimate in terms of trying to obtain a damages figure that he'd be comfortable with.”

CEO Debora Turness also resigned from the BBC due to the misleading edit (Image: Getty)

Iain Wilson, managing director for Brett Wilson law firm, said the BBC did have defence options in the face of Trump’s threat. The first could be that “the BBC could take issue with the Floridian court having jurisdiction over them”.

Mr Wilson said that it could be argued that “the programme was intended largely for a UK audience”, only being available for viewing on BBC iPlayer, which is not accessible in the US without a VPN.  "There is a chance it could be dismissed on that basis,” said Mr Wilson.

While “the BBC will be concerned because they have made mistakes,” Mr Wilson said that the libel claim would not solely revolve around the mistakes made “or whether it was misleading” but it would be taken in context of the entire Panorama programme “and how that would be viewed by the audience and whether the impression it gave them on Trump was substantially true or not.”

Mr Wilson said that if he were to advise the BBC, he would tell them to settle by “offering a meaningful apology and paying a sum of damages to a charity or something as a symbolic payment to put it to bed. And if Trump were being well advised, he probably would accept such an offer and then spin it as a meaningful victory.”

The BBC have until Friday, November 14, to respond to Trump’s ultimatum.