United States (US) President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Florida, seeking billions in damages over the editing of a 2021 speech in a documentary. The lawsuit alleges the British broadcaster published a "false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump" through selective editing.
Trump announced the legal action from the Oval Office on Monday. "In a little while, you'll be seeing I'm suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth. Literally, they put words in my mouth [...]," he told reporters.
The 33-page complaint, filed in the Southern District of Florida, seeks $5bn for defamation and another $5bn for violating Florida trade practices law. Court documents claim the BBC "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively" edited Trump's January 6, 2021 speech.
The editing controversy
The lawsuit centers on a BBC Panorama documentary titled "Trump: A Second Chance?" that aired a week before the 2024 US presidential election. The program allegedly spliced together separate parts of Trump's speech to create a misleading impression.
According to the lawsuit, the edit made it appear Trump told supporters: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell." Trump's legal team argues the BBC combined quotes from different points in the speech, separated by more than 50 minutes, to fabricate this sequence.
The complaint describes this as "a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election's outcome to President Trump's detriment."
BBC apology and resignations
The BBC acknowledged the editing issue in November, calling it an "error of judgment." BBC Chairman Samir Shah apologized to Trump, admitting the edit gave "the impression of a direct call for violent action."
The controversy triggered major leadership changes at the BBC. Director-General Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness both resigned on November 9 following an internal report on the editing.
The BBC confirmed the documentary "will not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms."
BBC rejects compensation
Despite the apology, the BBC rejected Trump's compensation demands. A BBC spokesperson said: "While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited [...] we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim."
Five arguments against the lawsuit
BBC News reported the broadcaster sent Trump's legal team a letter outlining five main arguments why they believe the defamation claim lacks merit. These include that the BBC restricted the documentary to UK viewers, did not cause Trump harm as he won re-election shortly after, and that political speech receives strong protection under US defamation laws.
The BBC argued the 12-second clip appeared in an hour-long program that included voices supporting Trump, and that the BBC designed the edit to shorten a long speech rather than mislead viewers.
Trump has a history of legal action against news organizations, including settlements with CBS and ABC following his November 2024 election victory, and ongoing lawsuits against the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
