UK regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into GB News over a repeat broadcast of its Donald Trump interview, despite previously deciding not to investigate the original airing. Ofcom is examining whether a daytime re-run of the same interview breached rules on impartiality and “material misleadingness”, even though the first broadcast did not warrant the same action. As such, GB News is facing regulatory scrutiny over content that was already judged acceptable before. So, what changed?
Original Trump Interview on GB News Is Ok, But the Re-run Is Not?
The broadcast at the centre of the dispute was an interview with Donald Trump conducted by GB News presenter Bev Turner. During the conversation, Trump made a string of familiar claims, including that climate change is “hoax”, that parts of London operate under sharia law, and that immigration has transformed parts of the UK in ways the establishment refuses to confront. Ofcom had previously declined to investigate the original night-time airing, even though they had received complaints that Trump’s claims went largely unchallenged. As reported on in February, the regulator’s reasoning was that the wider programme context — including panel discussion and alternative views aired elsewhere in the show — meant the threshold for a formal probe had not been met.
Now the same interview is back under scrutiny because it was shown again, this time as part of the daytime programme “The Weekend”. But the content didn’t change. What did change was the placement, the audience, and the political campaign surrounding it. Ofcom has since told media outlets it is investigating possible breaches of due impartiality and material misleadingness. According to reports, the regulator initially declined to act but has now decided to look at the second airing, because it was shown during daytime hours and reached a broader audience.
Does the Investigation by Ofcom Make Any Sense?
GB News says it is “surprised and concerned” by the decision and that it stands by its journalism and editorial standards. If Ofcom already looked at the interview and chose not to investigate, then reopening the matter because the same material was aired again just 12 hours later leaves the impression of a regulator working backwards from pressure, rather than forwards from any real principle. Surely, the content is either within the rules, or it is not. The possibility that the same regulatory system can investigate the same content and reach different conclusions depending on who potentially sees it and when invites justified accusations of inconsistency.
The broadcaster has spent much of its existence under sustained scrutiny from campaign groups, activists and media rivals who see it not just as a channel they disagree with, but as a channel that ought to be disciplined, restricted or pushed off-air. In 2024, GB News was investigated for failure to “preserve due impartiality” despite mainstream channels also presenting bias.
Various left-liberal activist groups have publicly attacked the channel, such as this story in August 2025, and there was also a poorly-attended attempt to protest against the channel in June 2025, in which “Hate or Pride? Pick a Side” intended to starve the channel of advertising revenue.
According to this coverage by European Conservative, “Just five protesters turned up—two of whom were dressed like they are mentally ill—to picket establishment fashion house Burberry for the crime of advertising on the right-leaning UK TV channel featuring Reform UK leader Nigel Farage”.
What Was Controversial About the Trump Broadcast on GB News?
Trump’s remarks on climate change, Islam and immigration were critiqued to be false, misleading, or simply not challenged strongly enough during the interview. This Guardian piece from February 2026 reported that, after Ofcom decided not to investigate the original airing, activists were especially angry about Trump’s climate comments and his claims about “no-go areas” and sharia law in London. Former Ofcom standards director Chris Banatvala told the paper the regulator had failed to uphold basic broadcasting standards, while Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute attacked both the content itself and Ofcom’s response at the time.
While political pressure was clearly being applied before, the confusing part now is why the regulator is failing to uphold its own original logic. If Ofcom agreed the panel discussion and wider programme context meant a probe was unnecessary before, why is this not the case for the re-run? According to the regulator, the second airing is being examined on its own terms as part of The Weekend programme, and as it featured at a different time in the day, it deserves to be analysed independently of the original. But it didn’t contain profanity or other time-specific content. In which case, how can the same Trump interview be acceptable in one slot, but potentially sanctionable in another?
GB News Says Ofcom Has Launched a “Direct Attack on Free Speech”
In May 2024, GB News was again threatened by the regulator who cited its “repeated” failure to “preserve due impartiality”, prompting critics to question how the body can justify this continued pursuit while turning a blind eye to the “bias” of mainstream channels like Channel 4 and the BBC.
This was regarding a debate it hosted with Rishi Sunak, former UK Prime Minister, and the channel was eventually fined £100,000. Andrew Neil — who was once the channel’s chairman but now one of its largest critics — said Ofcom had “chosen to die in the wrong ditch” following the ruling.
Ofcom said Mr Sunak had largely been able to air his views in an “uncontested” format in February 2024 in the run up to the General Election. The watchdog said the breach was “particularly egregious – it gave the then-prime minister, the most important politician in the country, a mostly uncontested, almost hour-long platform to set out his views about the government’s policies and performance”.
The regulator continued that an “appropriately wide range of significant views was not presented and given due weight”. It received more than 500 complaints about the broadcast.
Angelos Frangopoulos of GB News called the fine “a direct attack on free speech and journalism in the United Kingdom”, saying the broadcaster believes “these sanctions are unnecessary, unfair and unlawful”. He continued, “the plan to sanction GB News flies in the face of Ofcom’s duty to act fairly, lawfully and proportionately to safeguard free speech, particularly political speech and on matters of public interest.”
Mr Frangopoulos added: “But, equally, Ofcom is obliged by law to uphold freedom of expression and apply its rules fairly and lawfully.
“At the People’s Channel we will continue to fearlessly champion freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, and for everyone in the United Kingdom. As we have all seen, this is needed more than ever.”
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Categories: UK News