US Politics
Trump sues the BBC for $10bn accusing broadcaster of defamation over Panorama edit
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Donald Trump has filed a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC over the edit of a 6 January 2021 speech broadcast by Panorama that sparked a crisis at the broadcaster.
In a lawsuit filed late on Monday in a federal court in Miami, President Trump accused the BBC of defaming him and of violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, according to multiple outlets. Mr Trump is demanding $5bn for each offence.
In a statement to the New York Times, the president’s legal team said the lawsuit was designed to hold the British network accountable for what it described as wrongdoing.
“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 statement reportedly said.
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Speaking to reporters in Washington DC earlier Monday, the US president accused the BBC of “putting terrible words in my mouth that I didn’t say” and suggested they “may have used AI”.
The show, aired just a week prior to the 2024 US election results, is accused of misleading viewers by editing a speech Mr Trump delivered on 6 January 2021.
It spliced two distinct clips, creating the impression that Mr Trump instructed the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol … and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The controversy, first revealed by The Telegraph last month, led to the resignations of the BBC’s director general Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness.
The president said: “In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth. Literally, they put words in my mouth. They had me saying things I never said.
“They actually have me speaking with words that I never said, and they got caught because I believe somebody at the BBC said this is so bad, it has to be reported. Let’s call [it] fake news.”
The threat of legal action followed the leak of a document written by Michael Prescott, the former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee.
The report made accusations of several instances of bias, including the doctored Panorama episode.
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BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for an “error of judgement”, but said there was no basis for a defamation case.
In an email to staff, Mr Shah said: “There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements.
“In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public.
“I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.”
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In a legal filing from November, Mr Trump’s lawyers wrote: “Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide.
“Consequently, the BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”
Mr Trump has a history of suing news outlets in the U.S. and is currently engaged in legal action with the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
In September, he filed a $15bn defamation and libel lawsuit against the New York Times, calling it one of the most “degenerate newspapers” in the US, days after the newspaper published articles about his alleged ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In July, he launched legal action against the Wall Street Journal after it first reported the existence of a note featuring Mr Trump’s signature which was allegedly given to Epstein for his birthday.
Previous lawsuits against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, as well as the CBS news program 60 Minutes for its interview with Kamala Harris, were settled for $15m and $16m respectively.
