US President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of misleadingly editing his January 6, 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
According to court documents filed in Florida, Trump alleges defamation and violation of a trade practices law, seeking $5bn (over Rs 45,000 crore) in damages for each claim. His legal team claims the BBC “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctored” his words to portray him as directly inciting violence.
The BBC apologised to Trump in November for the edit but rejected his demand for compensation, stating there was no “basis for a defamation claim”. The broadcaster has not yet responded to the filing of the lawsuit.
The dispute centres on a Panorama programme aired in the UK ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. Trump said last month that he intended to sue over the documentary, telling reporters: “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
In his speech on January 6, 2021—delivered shortly before a mob stormed the US Capitol—Trump told supporters: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” More than 50 minutes later, he added: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The Panorama documentary edited the speech to show Trump saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The BBC has acknowledged that the edit gave “the mistaken impression” that Trump had made a direct call for violent action, a point that now lies at the centre of the legal battle
