Trump sues BBC for defamation over editing his speech, seeking billions in damages

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Monday filed a defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), accusing the broadcaster of misleadingly editing his speech related to the Jan 6 Capitol riot and seeking billions of dollars in damages.

The complaint, filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida's Miami division, accused the BBC of producing a "false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump" in a Panorama documentary.

According to the complaint, the documentary was "fabricated" and aired 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."

The documentary, titled "Trump: A Second Chance," was first broadcast on Oct 28, 2024. It allegedly "intentionally and maliciously" misled viewers worldwide by splicing together two separate parts of Trump's speech delivered on Jan. 6, 2021.

"The Panorama Documentary falsely depicted President Trump telling supporters: 'We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," the complaint said, adding, "President Trump never uttered this sequence of words."

The lawsuit alleged that the BBC combined footage from the beginning of the speech with a separate quote delivered nearly 55 minutes later, while omitting Trump's remarks calling for peace.

Trump has accused the BBC of defamation and violating Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, seeking 5 billion US dollars in damages for each alleged violation.

BBC Chair Samir Shah has apologized for what he described as an "error of judgment" over the edit. BBC Director-General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness have both resigned. The broadcaster has also pledged not to air the documentary again or make it available on any of its platforms.

In a statement dated Nov 13, the BBC said Shah had sent a personal letter to the White House expressing regret over the editing of Trump's speech featured in the program.

"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," the statement read.

The lawsuit marks the latest in a series of complaints filed by Trump against media organizations. He has previously sued ABC News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.