Trump Sues BBC for $10bn Over ‘Doctored’ Capitol Riot Documentary

• US President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation and election interference over an edited documentary on the January 6 Capitol riot.

US President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking at least $10 billion in damages from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over a documentary that allegedly edited his 2021 speech ahead of the US Capitol riot.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in a federal court in Miami, demands not less than $5 billion in damages for each of two counts — defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Trump, 79, said earlier in the day that legal action was imminent, accusing the broadcaster of deliberately misrepresenting his words. He claimed the BBC “put words in my mouth,” suggesting the footage may have been altered using advanced technology.

The documentary in question aired last year on the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, Panorama, shortly before the 2024 US presidential election.

According to court filings, the programme spliced together two separate portions of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech, creating the impression that he explicitly urged supporters to attack the US Capitol while lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

Trump’s legal team accused the broadcaster of acting with political intent.

“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,” a spokesperson for Trump’s lawyers said in a statement.

The statement further alleged that the BBC has a history of misleading coverage of Trump, driven by what it described as a partisan political agenda.

The controversy sparked renewed scrutiny of the BBC last month after media reports revisited the edited clip, plunging the broadcaster into internal turmoil.

The fallout reportedly led to the resignation of the BBC’s director-general and its top news executive.

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Trump’s lawsuit alleges that the edited footage was “fabricated and aired one week before the 2024 Presidential Election” with the intention of influencing the outcome to his disadvantage.

The BBC has denied the defamation claims but acknowledged errors in its handling of the issue. BBC chairman Samir Shah has since written a letter of apology to Trump and told a UK parliamentary committee that the broadcaster should have acted more swiftly after an internal memo flagged the editing mistake.

The legal action marks the latest in a series of lawsuits Trump has filed against media organisations in recent years, several of which have resulted in multi-million-dollar settlements.