A judge has ordered Donald Trump to disclose years of closely guarded financial records to the BBC after he claimed its Panorama documentary caused up to £7.5billion in damage to his businesses and brand13:16, 28 Jul 2026Donald Trump has suffered a damning setback in his defamation case against the BBC after a judge ordered him to hand the broadcaster years of closely guarded financial records.‌The ruling means the US President, who has fought for decades to keep the details of his business empire secret, must disclose documents showing the value and financial performance of his companies.‌The BBC demanded the records as part of its defence against Trump’s $10 billion - £7.5 billion - lawsuit over a misleadingly edited Panorama documentary covering the January 6 riots.‌US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett indicated this would be her ruling last week - and it has now been made formal. She has ruled that the US leader could not claim the programme had caused massive damage to his businesses and personal brand while refusing to provide the evidence needed to test his allegations.The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which owns virtually all his properties and businesses, has been ordered to begin handing over financial documents within ten days.‌It must then continue producing records every week until the process is complete. The Florida judge restricted the disclosure to documents dating from January 1, 2023, to the present, rejecting Trump’s attempt to block the BBC’s subpoena.The order represents a huge victory for the corporation, which apologised for the Panorama edit but refused to pay compensation. It also creates the prospect of intense scrutiny of financial information that the President has spent much of his public life trying to shield from rivals, investigators and the American public.Trump’s lawyers argued that the trust was not a party to the lawsuit and claimed the BBC’s requests were unreasonable, disproportionate and excessively burdensome. But Judge Lett said the scale of the disclosure sought by the broadcaster reflected the sweeping nature of Trump’s own claims.‌The president has alleged the programme caused “extensive economic harms,” “injury to [his] business and personal reputation”, and “massive economic damage to his brand value and significant damage and injury to his future financial prospects.”His lawsuit also claims there was “direct harm to his professional and occupational interests, including, without limitation, the value of his brand, properties, and businesses, and severe diminishment and tarnishing of his reputation as a politician, leader, and businessman in the eyes of the American public and around the world.”‌The judge said that because virtually all the properties and businesses Trump claimed had been damaged were held by the trust, its records were directly relevant to the case.She also said the BBC’s ability to examine the financial evidence was especially important because Trump was demanding damages of up to $10 billion.The dispute began with a 2024 Panorama documentary about Trump’s speech before his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.‌The programme showed Trump saying: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”However, the passage had been created by joining remarks made at different points in the speech. Near the beginning, Trump said: “We’re gonna walk down, and I’ll be there with you, we’re gonna walk down, we’re gonna walk down any one you want, but I think right here, we’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, and we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen.”His statement, “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” came towards the end of the address.‌The BBC accepted that the edit had created a misleading impression, apologised and said the documentary would not be broadcast again.But it refused to pay Trump compensation and maintains that the programme did not meet the legal threshold for defamation. The BBC’s decision to fight the case contrasts with the approach taken by several major American media companies which settled lawsuits brought by Trump rather than face a lengthy court battle.Disney, the owner of ABC News, agreed to pay £11.3million towards Trump’s future presidential library after presenter George Stephanopoulos wrongly said he had been found liable for rape. The company also agreed to pay £750,000 towards Trump’s legal costs.‌Paramount later agreed to pay £12million to settle Trump’s lawsuit over the editing of a CBS interview with his 2024 presidential election opponent, Kamala Harris.Paramount denied wrongdoing, but the settlements prompted warnings that large media companies were capitulating to legal and political pressure from Trump.Article continues belowThe BBC has refused to take the same course and is instead contesting his allegations in court. Trump could appeal the disclosure order or reduce his claims of damage to his businesses to limit the financial evidence he must produce.The case is due to go before a jury in Miami in February 2027.