The BBC Will Do What American Media Companies are Too Scared to Do

For years, Donald Trump has treated the legal system like a personal ATM, turning his grievances with the press into a lucrative revenue stream. By filing aggressive defamation suits, he has successfully pressured numerous media companies into quiet, multi-million dollar settlements. For Trump, suing the media has become "easy money"—a low-risk, high-reward strategy where outlets often choose to pay him off rather than face the mounting costs of a prolonged legal battle.

But with his latest target, the streak of quick payouts may have hit a wall. Trump has now filed a staggering $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC, alleging defamation over a pre-election film. While he has recently targeted The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times using a similar playbook in Florida courts, the sheer scale of the BBC demand signals a shift from seeking damages to attempting to dismantle an adversarial newsroom entirely.

The pattern of these suits has become predictable: Trump wins immediate headlines by portraying himself as a "tough" fighter against the "big bad media," leaving his supporters rooting for a judgment that would bankrupt his critics. Historically, many corporations have opted for the path of least resistance, handing over millions to make the litigation go away. However, the BBC is signaling a different approach. Rather than folding, the British broadcaster is showing a backbone, indicating they are willing to fight the suit to the end rather than provide Trump with another easy payday.

Up until this year, it was virtually unheard of for a sitting American president to sue a news organization, but Trump has managed to make this extraordinary breach of norm seem routine in just a few months. Despite the headlines, legal experts remain highly skeptical of his chances in court. Several media lawyers and law professors note that it is incredibly difficult to prove Trump was genuinely harmed by a film that was never even aired or streamed within the United States.

Dylan McLemore, a media law professor at the University of Oklahoma, suggests that the decision to file in Florida highlights the true intent behind these actions. The question at the heart of the matter is whether these suits are intended to win on legal merit or are simply designed to create headlines and chill critical speech. If the BBC continues to stand its ground, Trump’s "easy money" strategy may finally face a reckoning, proving that a firm refusal to settle is the most effective defense against legal intimidation.