President Donald Trump sued the BBC on Monday for $10 billion in damages, alleging that the British public broadcaster defamed him in a 2024 documentary by deceptively editing parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a 33-page complaint, Trump’s attorneys asked a federal court in Miami for a jury trial and alleged a BBC documentary that aired a week before the 2024 presidential election was \u201ca brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election\u2019s outcome to President Trump\u2019s detriment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBC, BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. and BBC Studios Productions Ltd. \u2014 co-producers of the \u201cTrump: A Second Chance\u201d documentary \u2014 are named as defendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump’s attorneys alleged that the BBC purposely spliced together parts of his speech to supporters at the Ellipse in Washington, including a section early on in the speech when he urged them to walk to the Capitol and a section nearly 55 minutes later when he told them to “fight like hell.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The suit argued that the documentary is deceptive in its omission of Trump\u2019s encouraging his supporters to engage in peaceful protest, when he said: \u201cI know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles B. Tobin, an attorney representing the BBC, said in a letter last month to Trump’s attorneys included in Monday’s filing that \u201cour client had no intention of misleading anyone\u201d and that the BBC had offered public contrition, a personal apology to Trump sent by email and a retraction that appeared online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBC\u2019s chairman, Samir Shah, previously acknowledged that the documentary’s editing “gave the mistaken impression” that Trump “made a direct call for violent action” and apologized for “that error of judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump announced earlier Monday that the lawsuit was coming, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he was suing the BBC “for putting words in my mouth.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They actually put terrible words in my mouth having to do with Jan. 6 that I didn’t say, and the beautiful words that I said, right, the beautiful words talking about patriotism and all of the good things that I said, they didn’t say that,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has repeatedly threatened to sue the BBC, saying after his election victory last year that he would seek $1 billion in damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump scored a victory this year when Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, said it would pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit with Trump over his allegations that a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview last year with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was deceptively edited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABC last year agreed to pay $15 million as part of a legal settlement with Trump over defamation allegations against anchor George Stephanopoulos during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n