Trump Files $10 Billion Lawsuit Against BBC Over Deceptive Edit of Jan. 6 Speech

U.S. President Donald Trump filed a massive $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC on Monday, December 15, accusing the British public broadcaster of defamation and deceptive practices. The lawsuit, filed in a Miami federal court, centers on a misleading edit of his January 6, 2021, speech featured in a 2024 documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance.”

Trump told reporters earlier that he was suing the BBC “for putting words in my mouth, literally,” accusing the network of splicing together different segments of his White House Ellipse speech to make it appear as though he explicitly encouraged the subsequent riot at the Capitol.

The 33-page complaint alleges that the documentary edited two parts of the speech, delivered approximately an hour apart, into a single quote where Trump urged supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell,” while crucially omitting his call for them to fight “peacefully.”

The lawsuit also claims the documentary deceptively showed footage of the Proud Boys marching before his address, implying his remarks inspired their movement.

Trump’s legal team is seeking $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion for violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, framing the documentary as a “brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 election.

Last month, the BBC issued a formal apology and conceded the edit was an “error of judgment,” with the BBC’s chairman, director-general, and news CEO all addressing the controversy or resigning. However, the broadcaster has consistently maintained that there is no legal basis for a defamation claim.

The BBC has also countered the lawsuit by stating the documentary never aired in the U.S. and is not on its streaming services, but Trump’s team argues that U.S. standing exists because subscribers to BritBox or users of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) could have accessed the content. Trump is requesting a jury trial.