Trump Sues BBC for $10 Billion in Defamation Lawsuit

President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC on Monday, claiming the British broadcaster defamed him by editing a video clip in a misleading way. The case centers on a 2024 documentary that allegedly manipulated footage of Trump's December 2021 speech to falsely suggest he directly called for the January 6 Capitol attack.

The lawsuit, filed in a Florida federal court, seeks at least $5 billion in damages for each of two charges: defamation and violation of Florida's deceptive business practices law. Trump told reporters Monday that the BBC "literally put words in my mouth" by showing him saying things he never said.

The controversy stems from the BBC's flagship news program "Panorama," which aired the edited footage shortly before the 2024 presidential election. The program took separate clips from Trump's December 6, 2021 speech and spliced them together to make it appear he explicitly urged supporters to storm the Capitol building.

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Trump supporters did breach the Capitol, driven by his unfounded claims of election fraud as they tried to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential victory.

Trump's legal team argues the BBC "deliberately and maliciously altered" the speech with clear intent to interfere in the 2024 election. A spokesperson for Trump's lawyers said the "once-respected BBC, now discredited" has a long history of misleading audiences in its Trump coverage to serve a "leftist political agenda."

The editing scandal has already caused major upheaval at the BBC. Both Director-General Tim Davie and News Director Deborah Turness resigned over the incident. BBC Chairman Samir Shah sent Trump an apology letter, but this failed to calm the president's anger.

The case has sparked intense debate in the UK about the BBC's editorial practices and political neutrality. The broadcaster has faced several scandals in recent years, raising questions about its journalistic standards and oversight.

While the BBC apologized for the editing error, Shah denied the defamation claims and vowed to fight any lawsuit. Trump's legal filing argues that despite the apologies, the BBC "showed no real remorse for its actions" and failed to implement meaningful structural reforms to prevent future journalistic misconduct.

The $10 billion figure represents one of the largest defamation claims ever filed against a news organization. Media law experts will be watching closely to see how US courts handle this high-profile case involving a sitting president and one of the world's most prominent broadcasters.