BBC demands Trump hand over phone records over January 6
The BBC has demanded that President Donald Trump hand over his personal phone records to prove he incited the January 6 riots, according to a GB News report.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The BBC has demanded that President Donald Trump hand over his personal phone records as part of a legal battle over a defamation lawsuit. The broadcaster's lawyers are seeking to prove that Trump incited the January 6 riots at the US Capitol, according to a report by GB News.
The demand is part of a discovery process in a case brought by Trump against the BBC. Trump is suing the broadcaster for £7.5bn, claiming that a documentary about him damaged his reputation. The BBC argues that Trump was not harmed by the programme, pointing out that he went on to win the 2024 presidential election.
In the discovery phase, lawyers for both sides are exchanging evidence. The BBC has asked Trump to reveal his text messages from the night of January 6, between his speech and his later calls for calm. The broadcaster wants to show that Trump failed to stop the riot, which would undermine his claim that the BBC's editing of his words caused him harm.
The BBC also wants access to Trump's financial documents, which reportedly relate to as many as 400 companies he was involved with at the time. Legal experts suggest that Trump may try to narrow the scope of the case to avoid disclosing those records. The case is not expected to go to court until February next year.
The BBC's editing of a clip from Trump's speech on January 6 has been a central point of contention. In the original speech, Trump said: "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 edited this to: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women." Trump's lawyers argue that the edit misrepresented his words and incited the riot.
The legal costs are being met by the BBC, which is funded by the UK licence fee. Critics have raised concerns that British taxpayers are effectively paying for the broadcaster's defence.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | GB News |
|---|---|
| GB News reported that the BBC demanded Trump's personal phone records to prove he incited the January 6 riots. | |
| GB News reported that the BBC edited a clip of Trump's speech, removing the phrase 'we fight like hell' and replacing it with 'cheer on our brave senators'. | |
| GB News reported that the BBC is seeking Trump's financial documents from up to 400 companies. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
GB News focused on the legal tactics and the potential cost to British taxpayers. The presenters expressed scepticism about the BBC's actions, highlighting the editing of Trump's speech and arguing that the broadcaster's reputation has been damaged regardless of the outcome. They also noted that the discovery process could be 'brutal' and that Trump may try to avoid disclosing his financial records.
- “The BBC has demanded that President Trump hand over his personal messages in an attempt to prove that he incited the January 6th riots in a fight back against the President's £7.5bn defamation lawsuit.”
- “What I hope doesn't happen is that the British taxpayer through the medium of the licence fee, etc., the BBC, is in any way on the hook. Too late for that.”
- “It still does not change what they did. What they did was pretty egregious.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.