Trump files $10bn defamation lawsuit against BBC over 6 Jan documentary

US President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the British public broadcaster of deceptively editing a documentary about him and misrepresenting his remarks ahead of the 2024 US presidential election.

In a 33-page complaint filed on Monday in a federal court in Miami, Trump’s lawyers alleged that a BBC documentary broadcast a week before the election distorted his speech delivered on 6 January 2021, shortly before supporters marched to the US Capitol. The lawsuit seeks damages and requests a jury trial.

The defendants named in the case include the BBC and its commercial arms, BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. and BBC Studios Productions Ltd., which co-produced the documentary Trump: A Second Chance.

According to the filing, Trump’s attorneys argue that the programme selectively spliced together separate parts of his speech, including an early passage urging supporters to walk to the Capitol and a remark made nearly an hour later in which he told them to “fight like hell”, while omitting comments in which he encouraged peaceful protest. The complaint says this editing created a misleading narrative suggesting Trump directly incited violence.

CNBC reported that the lawsuit contends that the documentary amounted to “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome” to Trump’s detriment. It argues that viewers were not shown Trump’s statement urging supporters to act “peacefully and patriotically”.

The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night. However, correspondence included in the court filing shows that Charles B. Tobin, a lawyer representing the broadcaster, had previously said the BBC had no intention of misleading audiences. He said the organisation had offered a public expression of regret, a personal apology to Trump and an online retraction.

The BBC’s chairman, Samir Shah, had earlier acknowledged that the documentary’s editing “gave the mistaken impression” that Trump had made a direct call for violent action, describing it as an error of judgement.

Trump confirmed earlier on Monday that legal action was imminent, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was suing the BBC “for putting words in my mouth”. He said the broadcaster had omitted what he described as his positive remarks about patriotism while highlighting comments that portrayed him negatively.

Trump has repeatedly threatened legal action against the BBC, initially saying after his election victory last year that he would seek $1 billion in damages.

The lawsuit follows a series of high-profile legal disputes between Trump and US media organisations. Earlier this year, Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit over claims that a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris was deceptively edited. Last year, ABC agreed to pay $15 million to resolve a defamation case brought by Trump over comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during an interview with Republican lawmaker Nancy Mace.

The BBC case now adds to a growing list of media-related lawsuits pursued by Trump, as legal scrutiny intensifies around how broadcasters portray his actions and statements linked to 6 January.

With agency inputs