The U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC over its editing of a speech he made to supporters in Washington before they stormed the US Capitol in 2021, requesting up to $10bn in damages.
In a complaint filed on Monday, December 15, 2025, Trump sought $5bn in damages each on two counts:
• First on alleging that BBC defamed him
• Second that it violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act
As reported by the Guardian, the US president alleged the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” edited his 6 January speech before the insurrection, in an episode of Panorama just over a year ago.
The Panorama edit, taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart, suggested 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 told reporters at the Oval Office, “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 that I never said coming out.”
“The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda,” Trump’s spokesperson said.
“President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing,”he added.
The Florida court has jurisdiction over this case, Trump’s lawsuit argued, because the BBC is “engaged in substantial and not isolated business activities” in the state.
It pointed to the BBC’s website and BritBox, a streaming platform it operates in several markets including the US.
In Trump’s complaint against the BBC, his legal team writes, “The BBC, faced with overwhelming and justifiable outrage on both sides of the Atlantic, has publicly admitted its staggering breach of journalistic ethics, and apologized, but has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.”
“Accordingly, President Trump brings this action for compensatory and punitive damages for the extensive reputational harm inflicted upon him by the defendants.”
While press freedom campaigners on Monday, urged the BBC to stand strong and “fight back.”
“You don’t get to call out any alleged journalistic blunder and demand $10bn,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said.
BBC has previously acknowledged the editing was an “error of judgment” and apologized to Trump but insisted there was no legal basis for a defamation claim.
The controversy, which involved splicing two clips to create a misleading impression, led to the resignations of BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness.
