Trump Attacks ABC, Praises BBC Despite $10 Billion Lawsuit
What To Know
- Donald Trump expressed a preference for the BBC over ABC News, despite currently suing the BBC for $10 billion.
- The president claims a BBC doc used deceptive editing of his January 6, 2021, speech.
- Trump has a longstanding feud with ABC, frequently criticizing its news and entertainment content.
President Donald Trump said he prefers the BBC to ABC despite suing the former for $10 billion in damages.
Trump made the remark while fielding questions from reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday (August 2). According to Mediaite, the president asked a journalist, “Who are you with?”
“I’m with ABC News,” the reporter replied.
“BBC?” Trump responded, having misheard the reporter.
When the journalist clarified that they work for ABC News, the president retorted, “Oh, ABC. That’s worse. I like BBC better than ABC, actually.”
The comment was notable, as it came amid a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that Trump filed against the BBC in late 2025. The president is suing the British broadcaster over the documentary, Trump, A Second Chance, which he claims used edited footage from his January 6, 2021, speech.
Trump alleges that the BBC doc featured deceptive editing to make it appear he directly encouraged the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol following his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden.
While the BBC eventually apologized for what it called an editing error, the network has denied Trump’s defamation claims and plans to defend the lawsuit in court.
“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” the BBC said in a statement.
The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial early in 2027.
Trump has long had a beef with ABC, including both its news and entertainment programming. In the past year, he has called for the network to cancel Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The View.
In an August 2025 Truth Social rant, Trump blasted both ABC and NBC as “fake news” and called for the FCC to revoke their broadcast licenses.
“Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES,” he wrote at the time. “IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC.”
He added, “I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!! MAGA.”
