Former US President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking at least $10 billion in damages from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), alleging that a documentary aired by the broadcaster unlawfully edited his January 6, 2021, speech to supporters ahead of the US Capitol riot.
The suit, filed on Monday in a federal court in Miami, brings two counts against the BBC—defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act—seeking no less than $5 billion in damages for each claim.
Trump, 79, had earlier indicated that legal action was imminent, accusing the BBC of misrepresenting his remarks and claiming the broadcaster “put words in my mouth,” suggesting the possibility that artificial intelligence had been used to alter the footage.
The documentary in question aired last year on Panorama, the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, shortly before the 2024 US presidential election. According to the lawsuit, the programme combined two separate excerpts from Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, creating the impression that he directly encouraged supporters to attack the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
In a statement to AFP, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team accused the broadcaster of deliberately manipulating the footage. “The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election,” the statement said. It further alleged that the BBC had a history of misleading coverage of Trump, driven by what it described as a partisan political agenda.
The controversy surrounding the edited clip resurfaced last month following a media report, triggering a period of upheaval within the BBC. The scandal culminated in the resignations of the broadcaster’s director-general and its most senior news executive.
Trump’s lawsuit contends that the edited speech was “fabricated and aired by the Defendants one week before the 2024 Presidential Election in a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.”
While the BBC has denied the allegations of legal defamation, its chairman, Samir Shah, has issued a letter of apology to Trump. Shah also told a UK parliamentary committee that the corporation should have acted more swiftly to acknowledge the error after it was identified in an internal memo later leaked to The Daily Telegraph.
The action against the BBC is the latest in a series of lawsuits Trump has brought against media organisations in recent years, several of which have resulted in multi-million-dollar settlements.
