Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.
President Trump’s attorneys have filed an emergency motion to block the BBC from getting his financial records, one day before a court-ordered deadline to start handing them over.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, President Trump sued the BBC back in December over a 2024 episode of its “Panorama” series called “Trump: A Second Chance?” The problem was a single edit. The documentary quoted him telling supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” What he actually said was “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” The “fight like hell” line came more than 50 minutes later in the same speech. The BBC spliced the two together, which made it sound like he was ordering the attack that followed. The network has apologized, acknowledging the footage gave “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” but says the edit was not intentional and not legally defamatory. Trump is seeking $10 billion and has claimed the BBC “used AI” to insert words into his speech, which the network denies.
What’s going on now: Trump’s legal team went to Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett with an emergency stay request, asking her to freeze her own ruling from last month that gives the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust until Thursday to start producing financial documents. That order exists because Trump claimed the edit damaged his “brand, properties and businesses,” which opened the door for the BBC to see whether those businesses actually lost anything.
The subpoena is broad. It covers roughly 400 entities tied to the trust dating back to Jan. 1, 2023, including tax returns, property deeds, the value of each entity, intellectual property, cryptocurrency holdings, and tangible property down to vehicles, jewelry, art, and collectibles.
Named entities include World Liberty Financial, Trump Media & Technology Group, and the Trump Organization. It also asks for a year-by-year accounting of how the trust’s value has changed, which would show whether the documentary cost him money.
Trump is also trying a second route. His lawyers want to amend the lawsuit to drop the business-damage language and focus instead on “personal reputational harm as the primary compensatory injury,” which would remove the basis for the financial discovery entirely. The revised complaint is under seal and still seeks $10 billion.
The BBC isn’t having it. Lawyers for the outlet called the filing “a transparent effort to evade this Court’s clear and direct order,” noting that the trust waited until the day before its deadline to ask for relief and that Trump is chasing $10 billion “for a documentary the BBC never aired in the United States.”
