U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The suit, filed in Florida, alleges defamation and a violation of the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, seeking $5 billion for each claim.
The core allegation is that a BBC documentary deceptively edited Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech, putting words in his mouth that he did not say. Trump stated the broadcaster “used AI or something” to have him “saying things that I never said.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the lawsuit addresses “defamation and reckless election interference,” accusing the BBC of a “long pattern of deceiving its audience” for a “leftist political agenda.”
The lawsuit follows a separate controversy regarding BBC reporting on Trump’s comments about former Congresswoman Liz Cheney. According to The Telegraph, an internal BBC memo concluded the network’s coverage of the story was “not covered accurately.”
The internal memo, from the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee, stated errors were made in multiple reports that aired before the November 2024 election. These reports claimed Trump suggested Cheney should face a firing squad or be shot. The BBC did not issue a public correction.
The full context of Trump’s remarks, from an interview with Tucker Carlson, shows him criticizing Cheney as a “radical war hawk” and using metaphorical language about guns to critique her foreign policy stance.
The BBC has not publicly commented on the lawsuit.