The President of the United States, Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit this Monday (December 15, 2025) demanding at least $ 10 billion from the BBC for editing his speech to his supporters in 2021 before the attack on the Capitol.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, seeks “at least $5 billion in damages” for each of two counts against the British broadcaster for alleged defamation and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Practices Act.
Trump, 79, had previously said the lawsuit was imminent, saying the BBC “put words in his mouth” when the broadcaster aired the audiovisual segment.
Last month, the BBC apologized for creating the impression that Trump had incited “violent actions” before his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The documentary in question was broadcast on the BBC’s flagship current affairs program Panorama last year ahead of the 2024 election.
The BBC has denied the allegations
The video stitched together two separate sections of the speech so that Trump appeared to specifically call on his supporters to attack the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
“The previously respected and now discredited BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously and deceptively manipulating his speech in order to interfere in the 2024 presidential election,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said in a statement to AFP.
The British Broadcasting Corporation, whose audience extends far beyond the United Kingdom, endured a period of turmoil last month after a newspaper report brought the edited clip back into the spotlight.
The BBC has denied Trump’s defamation claims, although BBC Chairman Samir Shah sent Trump an apology letter. Shah also assured last month that the network was committed to defending itself against Trump’s threat.
mg (afp, CNN)
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