EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump 'Planning BBC Email Raid' to Win Blockbuster $10Billion Legal Battle
Donald Trump is allegedly planning a BBC email raid in his $10billion legal battle.
Sept. 29 2026, Updated 2:04 p.m. ET
Donald Trump is planning to turn the BBC's internal emails against the broadcaster as his lawyers pursue a blockbuster $10billion defamation lawsuit over an edited Panorama documentary, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 80-year-old US president's legal team has obtained communications and production material relating to the October 2024 program, which spliced together separate sections of Trump's January 6, 2021 speech.
Legal Strategies and Internal Emails
Donald Trump targeted BBC emails in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit.
The BBC denies defamation and is seeking to have the Florida case dismissed, arguing the documentary was made for a UK audience and never broadcast in the US.
A source familiar with the case told us: "The emails are potentially central to Trump's strategy. His lawyers believe the BBC's own internal material can help them challenge several important parts of the corporation's defense.
"They are looking closely at what was said behind the scenes, how the documentary was conceived and whether there is evidence showing that people connected with the production knew it could be accessed from America.
"The BBC will strongly contest that interpretation, but Trump's team clearly believes the paper trail gives them ammunition."
Apology Controversies and Actual Malice Arguments
BBCchairman Samir Shah previously issued a formal editorial apology.
Trump filed his BBC lawsuit after its chairman Samir Shah apologized for an edit he said "unintentionally created the impression of a single, continuous section of your speech."
Shah added the edit gave "the mistaken impression that you had made a direct call for violent action," adding: "That was an editorial error and it should not have happened."
Trump's lawyers contend the apology supports their allegation of "actual malice," the legal standard applying to defamation claims brought by US public figures.
Attorney Alejandro Brito told one hearing the BBC "vehemently deny that the splicing was done with actual malice or with intent," before arguing the position was "entirely belied by the words of the chairman of the BBC."
The broadcaster's lawyers reject the interpretation, saying Trump's team "warps the chair's words" and emphasizing Shah's description of the misleading impression as unintentional.
Streaming Disclosures and Pitch Documents
BBC lawyers rejected Trump's interpretation of the chairman's comments.
Emails disclosed in the litigation also show people involved in producing the documentary sharing links with selected US residents connected to the program. One message from an October Films representative, copied to a BBC employee, included instructions for using a VPN to access iPlayer outside Britain.
The BBC maintains its rules prohibit overseas iPlayer viewing and said any US access would therefore have been unauthorized.
Trump's lawyers have also obtained an early pitch for the documentary that featured the president on a wanted-style poster and proposed the working title Wanted: President Trump?
The eventual Panorama program, Trump: A Second Chance?, combined two passages from Trump's Capitol speech into: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol… and we fight. We fight like h---."
Leadership Fallout and Broadcaster Defense
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The BBC sought to have Donald Trump's Florida lawsuit dismissed.
Former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott later raised concerns about the edit.
The controversy preceded the resignations of former director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness.
The BBC said: "We have said throughout we will robustly defend the case against us. The documentary was never aired anywhere in the US, including the state of Florida."
It added it was challenging the Florida court's jurisdiction and had filed a motion seeking dismissal of Trump's amended claim.
Trump has waged a long-running battle with major media organizations, repeatedly challenging coverage he says is false or defamatory.
Along with the BBC, his disputes have included lawsuits against The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Des Moines Register, alongside clashes over journalists' White House access.
