Trump Sues BBC for $10bn Over Edited Panorama Documentary

US President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), accusing the broadcaster of defamation and deceptive practices over an edited episode of its Panorama documentary that he claims falsely portrayed his role in the January 6 Capitol riot.

The lawsuit, filed in Florida, alleges that the BBC unlawfully altered Trump’s remarks in a way that falsely portrayed him as directly inciting violence during the US Capitol riot. Trump also accused the broadcaster of violating trade practices laws and causing him reputational and legal harm through the documentary’s global distribution.

According to court filings, Trump’s legal team claimed the BBC “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively” edited his speech. While the BBC apologised last month for the edit, it rejected Trump’s demand for compensation and maintained that there was no basis for a defamation claim. The broadcaster has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit.

Trump had previously indicated plans to sue the BBC after the documentary aired in the UK ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, accusing the network of manipulating his words. “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth,” he said at the time.

In his original January 6 speech, Trump told supporters they would “walk down to the Capitol” and “cheer on” lawmakers, before later adding, more than 50 minutes after, “we fight like hell.” However, the Panorama programme aired an edited clip that appeared to merge the statements, giving the impression they were delivered together.

The BBC later acknowledged that the edit created a “mistaken impression” that Trump had made a direct call for violence, but insisted this did not amount to defamation. A leaked internal BBC memo in November criticised the editing process, with the controversy reportedly contributing to the resignations of Director-General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness.

Prior to the lawsuit, BBC lawyers argued that the broadcaster neither distributed the documentary in the United States nor intended harm, noting that the programme was restricted to UK audiences on BBC iPlayer and that Trump was re-elected shortly after its broadcast.

Trump’s lawsuit disputes those claims, alleging that the documentary was accessible outside the UK through licensing agreements with third-party distributors, VPN services and the streaming platform BritBox, including in Florida.

The legal action has sparked political reaction in the UK, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to defend the BBC. He urged the government to protect licence fee payers from the potential financial impact of the lawsuit.