Former US President Donald Trump has filed a $5 billion (£3.7 billion) defamation lawsuit against the BBC, claiming the broadcaster manipulated his January 6, 2021, speech in a Panorama documentary. The lawsuit was filed in Florida, citing defamation and violations of trade practices law.
Trump alleges the BBC “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” altered his speech to misrepresent his words. The edited clip, aired in the UK before the 2024 US election, combined two separate statements from his speech, creating the impression he directly called for violence at the Capitol riot. In the Panorama segment, Trump appeared to say: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” In reality, his speech separated these statements by more than 50 minutes.
The BBC apologised for the edit last month, acknowledging it “gave the mistaken impression” of a call to violence but denied any defamation, rejecting Trump’s demands for compensation. An internal BBC memo on the edit was leaked in November, leading to the resignations of Director-General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness.
BBC lawyers had previously argued there was no malice, that Trump was not harmed—citing his subsequent re-election—and that the Panorama programme was not distributed on US channels. However, Trump’s lawsuit contends that licensing agreements and VPN use in Florida likely allowed Americans to access the documentary.
Trump stated last month that he planned to sue the BBC, accusing the broadcaster of changing his words. Meanwhile, UK Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called the lawsuit “unacceptable,” urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to defend the BBC and protect licence fee payers.
The BBC has not yet formally responded to the lawsuit.
