Trump sues BBC for $10 billion over editing of January 6 speech in Panorama documentary
President Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC seeking $5 billion on each of two counts for editing his January 6, 2021 speech in a documentary.
December 15, 2025 - 08:39 PM ET • 2 min read
President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC on Monday evening in federal court in Miami, seeking at least $5 billion in damages over the broadcaster's editing of his January 6, 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
The 46-page complaint accuses the BBC of defaming Trump and violating Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Trump's legal team requested $5 billion in damages for each of the two counts, totaling $10 billion.
The lawsuit centers on a Panorama episode titled "Trump: A Second Chance?" that aired in the United Kingdom one week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. According to the complaint, the BBC edited sections of Trump's speech delivered to supporters in Washington on January 6, 2021, before the Capitol building was stormed.
The edited clips were spliced together from portions of the speech that were nearly an hour apart, the lawsuit alleges. The editing created the impression that Trump told 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." Trump's legal team characterized this as the BBC "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively" doctoring his speech.
In a statement, Trump's legal team said the lawsuit was designed to hold the BBC accountable. "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 said.
The complaint also alleges the documentary was produced as part of "a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election's outcome to President Trump's detriment."
The BBC apologized to Trump in November, acknowledging the editing was an "error of judgment." However, the broadcaster rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was any "basis for a defamation claim."
The BBC has not yet responded to the lawsuit being filed. In November, Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News, resigned over the matter.
Trump announced last month that he planned to sue the BBC over the editing of his speech. "I think I have to do it," he told reporters. "They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth."