US President Donald Trump sued the UK-based BBC on Monday for alleged defamation over edited clips of a speech, which made it appear as if he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol, opening an international front in his fight against media coverage he deems untrue or unfair.
Mr Trump accused Britain's publicly owned broadcaster of defaming him by splicing together parts of a speech made on January 6, 2021, including one section in which he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another where he said "fight like hell". It omitted a segment in which he called for peaceful protest.
The lawsuit alleges the BBC defamed the President and broke a Florida law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. He is seeking $5 billion in damages for each part of the lawsuit.
The BBC, which has admitted its editing of the remarks was an “error of judgment,” sent a personal apology to Mr Trump last week but said it would not rebroadcast the documentary and rejected the defamation claim.
The dispute over the clip, featured on the BBC's Panorama documentary shown shortly before the 2024 presidential election, sparked a public relations crisis for the broadcaster, leading to the resignations of its two most senior officials.
Facing one of the biggest crises in its 103-year history, the BBC has said it has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary on any of its platforms.
The BBC said it would defend the case and would not be making any further comment. It had previously apologised to Mr Trump, admitted an error of judgment and acknowledged the edit gave the mistaken impression he had made a direct call for violent action. But it has said there is no legal basis to sue.
The lawsuit said, however, that despite the apology, the BBC "has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses".
A representative for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has gone to great lengths to preserve a positive relationship with Mr Trump, said any legal action was a matter for the corporation. The government defended "the principle of a strong, independent BBC as a trusted, relied-upon national broadcaster, reporting without fear or favour", Mr Starmer said.
On Tuesday, a British government minister said he believed the BBC was right to stand firm against Mr Trump's lawsuit.
"They have apologised for one or two of the mistakes that were made in that Panorama programme, but they've also been very clear that there is no case to answer in terms of Mr Trump's accusations on the broader point about libel or defamation," junior minister Stephen Kinnock told Sky News. "So I think it's right that the BBC stands firm on that point."
