Trump Sues BBC for $10 Billion Over Edited Capitol Riot Speech Documentary

President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation, seeking at least $10 billion in damages over a documentary that allegedly edited his January 6, 2021 speech in a misleading manner.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in a federal court in Miami. It demands no less than $5 billion in damages on each of two counts, accusing the BBC of defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

According to the filing, the BBC documentary manipulated Trump’s remarks to supporters ahead of the US Capitol riot, splicing together different portions of his speech in a way that made it appear he directly encouraged an attack on the Capitol as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said legal action was imminent, accusing the broadcaster of putting words in his mouth and suggesting the edits may have involved artificial intelligence.

The documentary was broadcast last year on the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, Panorama, shortly before the 2024 presidential election. Trump’s legal team alleges the edited clip was fabricated and aired one week before the election in an attempt to influence the outcome against him.

In a statement to AFP, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the BBC “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” altered the speech to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. The statement also accused the broadcaster of a long-standing pattern of misleading coverage driven by political bias.

The BBC, whose global audience extends far beyond the United Kingdom, has denied Trump’s claims of legal defamation. However, BBC chairman Samir Shah sent Trump a letter of apology and later told a UK parliamentary committee that the organisation should have acted more quickly to address the error once it was identified in an internal memo that was later leaked to the press.

The controversy triggered significant fallout at the broadcaster last month, leading to the resignation of the BBC’s director-general and its top news executive.

Trump’s legal action against the BBC is the latest in a series of lawsuits he has filed against media organisations in recent years, several of which have resulted in multi-million-dollar settlements.