19th December 2025
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Over at Prospect I have a post summarising the starting positions of both President Trump and the British Broadcasting Corporation.
You can read it here. It also has quite the accompanying picture.
7 thoughts on “Trump v BBC: the battle begins”
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Surely the BBC should go in early for maximum discovery from Trump like the Pullitzer Prize committee just did. Demand everything, tax records, corporate financials including Trump media and other griifts, medical records and the kitchen sink, as this is all needed to establish the degree of harm caused. Trump won’t won’t to provide this and case will ultimately fold, just like when he went after his former lawyer Michael Cohen for $500m. Cohen demanded deposition from Trump and after several no-shows Trump had to withdraw it.
Play hardball, Roy Cohn would and make a documentary about it as you go.
Discovery should be the servant of litigation, not the master. Cases which are disclosure-driven can be badly wrong. If it sereves the BBC as a tactic in due course, then yes. But not as an aim in and of itself.
Might the BBC be on the defensive over the ‘malicious’ charge? It has admitted that a ‘mistake’ was made (by whom is not clear), but this might mean simply that they now wish they hadn’t done it. In other words, the BBC hasn’t to my (incomplete) knowledge clarified the reason that the edit was made as it was. One assumes the Corporation will say that the intention was merely to condense Trump’s speech, and anyway the two parts spliced together were effectively expressing a single thought. Editors of film, audio, and the written word do this all the time. But it may still be difficult to refute the imputation of a desire to make Trump look bad. Hand on heart, can the film-maker(s) deny that no such thought crossed their collective mind? (Admission: I couldn’t.)
It usually would take more than mere supposition to make out malice.
Why does the BCC need to pay any attention to this legal threat by Trump in Florida? The BBC doesn’t operate in the USA, how could any court decision against it be realistically enforced in the UK?
The BBC has assets in the US, and – in theory – any judgment could also be enforced over here (as with any other foreign judgment)
Trump has got his sweaty hand on a good sized chain with which to jerk the BBC around as he pleases.
However the timing and politics may be interesting. When does this case start up and how long will it take? Presumably Trump will not want the case to drag into his election campaign – especially if opening salvos do not go his way.
I think the opening rounds will be a feel-out to get the sense of how useful this case is to Trump’s wider campaign.
Perhaps Trump will drag it out till past the US presidential elections. Less risk and plenty of room to waste time and test and soften up the BBC. A manoeuvre to head for some sort of victory after UK elections – with a Tory or Reform win would suit nicely. An opportunity for friends over here to work with friends over there to carve up a crippled BBC to everyone’s advantage.
To start the case early might suit the BBC, push Trump up against his election. Especially as a loss to the BBC would be pretty crippling for Trump. But Trump is a sly fish and won’t be caught that way. Break out the popcorn for a longish film.