US President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation and deceptive trade practices over an edited version of his Jan 6, 2021, speech to supporters.
The 33-page lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, claims the BBC spliced together two separate parts of his address to portray him as directly inciting violence while omitting parts in which he called for a peaceful protest.
Trump’s lawyers argue the resulting documentary segment was “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious,” and frame it as a “brazen attempt” to interfere in and influence the 2024 US presidential election in which he was then a candidate. The lawsuit seeks at least $10 billion in damages for alleged reputational and financial harm, citing both defamation and unfair or deceptive business practices by the UK-based public broadcaster.
The BBC didn’t respond to a request for comment immediately.
The broadcaster has acknowledged that the edit created a misleading impression and issued an apology to the White House in November. However, it maintained that there is no legal basis for Trump’s defamation claim.
Legal experts noted that to prevail, Trump would need to show not only that the edit was misleading and defamatory but also that the BBC acted with “actual malice” — knowing the portrayal was false or showing reckless disregard for the truth.
The BBC has said that it has no intention of rebroadcasting the documentary on any of its platforms due to one of the largest crises in its 103-year existence.
Shortly before the 2024 presidential election, the BBC’s “Panorama” documentary show broadcasted the disputed tape. This caused a public relations crisis for the channel and resulted in the resignation of two of its top officials.
As part of a larger probe into political bias at the publicly financed broadcaster, the documentary came under fire after an external standards adviser leaked in a BBC memo that raised questions about how it was produced.
In the US, the documentary was not aired.
Since defamation claims in Britain must be filed within a year of publication—a window that has closed for the “Panorama” episode—Trump might have filed a lawsuit in the US.
According to legal experts, the broadcaster might contend that the programme was largely accurate and that its editing choices did not give the wrong impression. It can also assert that Trump’s reputation was not harmed by the programme.
Other media outlets, like as CBS and ABC, have reached settlements with Trump when he sued them after winning the election in November 2024.
The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and an Iowa newspaper have all been sued by Trump, but they have all denied any wrongdoing.
The aim of the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol was to prevent Congress from declaring Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 US presidential election.