Trump demands $10 billion in damages from the BBC in a defamation lawsuit

US President Donald Trump on Monday filed a lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), demanding $10 billion in damages, accusing it of defamation by creating a misleading video clip, according to a court document.

Trump’s lawsuit filed in a federal court in Florida seeks “damages of not less than $5 billion” for both defamation and violation of a Florida law regarding deceptive and unfair trade practices.

The 79-year-old Republican president told reporters on Monday that the BBC showed him speaking other than what he said, stressing, “They literally put words in my mouth.”

Trump announced a few weeks ago that he would demand compensation from the BBC “ranging between one billion and five billion dollars” for each of the two charges.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, whose reputation and audience extend beyond the borders of the United Kingdom, is facing a crisis since the edited clip was broadcast on its leading news program, “Panorama.”

Shortly before the 2024 US presidential elections, the program showed separate clips from a speech delivered by Trump on December 6, 2021, which were synthesized in a way that suggested that he explicitly called on his supporters to attack the headquarters of Congress in Washington.

On that day, hundreds of his supporters stormed the Capitol building, motivated by his baseless accusations of fraud during the elections in which he was defeated, seeking to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory for the presidency.

A spokesman for Trump’s lawyers said Monday: “The once-respected and now discredited BBC defamed President Trump by deliberately, in bad faith, and deceptively changing his rhetoric with the clear aim of interfering in the 2024 presidential election.”

He added: “The BBC has a long history of misleading its audience in its coverage of President Trump, in service of its left-wing political agenda.”

Apology letter

The case in the United Kingdom sparked debate about how the Broadcasting Corporation operates and its impartiality, at a time when the group has witnessed a number of cases and scandals in recent years.

It prompted the resignation of its general manager, Tim Duffy, and its news director, Deborah Turness.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah sent a letter of apology to Trump, but did not succeed in quelling his anger. But he denied the defamation accusations and expressed his determination to fight any lawsuit.

Trump’s lawsuit argues that the BBC, despite its apologies, “did not show any real remorse for its actions and did not undertake significant structural reforms to prevent journalistic abuses in the future.”