Trump Slams BBC With $10bn Lawsuit Over Jan. 6 Documentary

|By Adejumo Adekunle

U.S. President Donald Trump has sued the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), demanding at least $10 billion in damages over a documentary that he says distorted his January 6, 2021 speech ahead of the U.S. Capitol riot.

Filed on Monday, the lawsuit seeks no less than $5 billion on each of two counts—defamation and alleged violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act—stemming from a BBC Panorama documentary aired last year, shortly before the 2024 presidential election.

Trump accused the broadcaster of deliberately editing footage of his address to supporters on January 6, 2021, splicing together separate portions of the speech to create the impression that he directly incited an attack on the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Earlier on Monday, Trump had signalled that legal action was imminent, alleging that the BBC “put words in my mouth” and suggesting that the network may have relied on artificial intelligence or other manipulative tools to alter the footage.

A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the documentary was part of a calculated effort to undermine him politically.

“The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election,” the spokesperson said.

The statement further accused the broadcaster of sustained bias, claiming the BBC has “a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda.”

The BBC has yet to issue a public response to the lawsuit.