Trump Files $10 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against BBC Over Edited Panorama Documentary

Miami, Florida — Former U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated a $10 billion defamation action against the British Broadcasting Corporation, alleging that a Panorama documentary broadcast one week before the 2024 presidential election deliberately misrepresented his remarks from Jan. 6, 2021.

The civil complaint, lodged Monday night in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, asserts that the program, titled “Trump: A Second Chance,” was edited in a manner that portrayed Trump as explicitly urging supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. According to the filing, the documentary stitched together separate phrases from his speech to create an inflammatory passage he never delivered in that sequence.

Trump seeks a total of $10 billion in damages, divided equally between two counts: defamation and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit states that the contested edit amounted to “a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction” and characterizes the broadcast as “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.”

Alleged Manipulation of Jan. 6 Speech

The key dispute centers on footage from Trump’s speech near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021. The complaint says Panorama presented him as saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Trump contends that the sentence containing “And we fight” occurred nearly 55 minutes after the phrase “I’ll be there with you,” and that the documentary’s edit falsely implied a direct call to violence.

The filing also alleges that internal objections at the BBC were raised before the program aired but were disregarded. It claims the documentary fits a “longstanding pattern” by the broadcaster of presenting Trump’s statements in a misleading way and “fabricating calls for violence that he never made.”

BBC Response and Leadership Fallout

BBC Chair Samir Shah has publicly apologized for what he called an “error of judgment” regarding the edit. On Nov. 11, 2025, Director General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Executive Deborah Turness resigned amid broader accusations of bias, including the handling of the Trump speech footage. Two days later, the BBC issued a statement expressing regret for the edit and pledging not to rebroadcast the documentary on any platform. However, the network added that it “strongly disagrees there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

CNBC said it had requested comment from the BBC on Tuesday; the broadcaster had not responded by publication time.

Trump’s Public Remarks

Earlier Monday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump previewed the filing. “In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth,” he said. “Literally, they put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said coming out.”

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A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team later described the complaint as a move to hold “the formerly respected and now disgraced BBC” accountable for “intentional, malicious, and deceptive” actions. The spokesperson also alleged a broader pattern of coverage that serves “its own leftist political agenda.”

Pattern of Litigation Against Media Outlets

The BBC case adds to a series of high-value defamation suits Trump has brought against major media organizations. In September he filed a $15 billion complaint against The New York Times, claiming the paper functions as a “mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party. In July, he sued Rupert Murdoch and the publisher of The Wall Street Journal for $10 billion over a report that Trump sent a “bawdy” birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, an allegation he denies.

One month later, in October 2024, Trump filed a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over alleged deceptive editing of an interview with his then-election opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on “60 Minutes.” Paramount Skydance, CBS’s parent company, agreed in July to pay $16 million toward Trump’s future presidential library to resolve that case. In December 2024, ABC consented to pay $15 million, also earmarked for the library, to settle claims stemming from anchor George Stephanopoulos’s description of a civil jury verdict against Trump.

Next Steps in the Florida Case

The lawsuit requests a jury trial and seeks punitive damages in addition to compensatory relief. Under the Florida statute cited, the court could impose further penalties if it finds the BBC’s conduct violated consumer protection rules. Legal experts note that successful defamation claims by public figures must meet the “actual malice” standard established by the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That precedent requires proof that the defendant either knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. For background on the standard, see this overview from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

No hearing schedule has yet been posted on the court docket. If the case proceeds, it will test whether Trump can demonstrate that the BBC acted with the requisite intent and whether the allegedly manipulated footage meets the threshold for defamation under U.S. law.

Crédito da imagem: Hannah McKay | Reuters