Donald Trump has filed a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC over the Panorama that sparked a crisis at the broadcaster.
The BBC said documents filed at a court late on Monday in a federal court in Miami asked for $5bn (£3.7bn) in damages for defamation, as well as the same amount for a claim of violating trade practices.
Sir Keir Starmer is now under growing pressure to intervene, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urging the prime minister to “stand up for the BBC against Trump’s outrageous legal threat”.
In a statement to The New York Times, the president’s legal team said the lawsuit was designed to hold the British network accountable for what it described as wrongdoing.
“The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 presidential election,” the statement reportedly said.
Speaking to reporters in Washington DC earlier on Monday, the US president accused the BBC of “putting terrible words in my mouth that I didn’t say” and suggested they “may have used AI”.
The programme, which was broadcast just a week before the 2024 US election results, is accused of misleading viewers by editing a speech Mr Trump delivered on 6 January 2021.
It spliced two distinct clips, creating the impression that Mr Trump instructed 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.”
The controversy, first revealed by The Telegraph last month, led to the resignations of the BBC’s director general Tim Davie and CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness.
The president said: “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 I never said.
“They actually have me speaking with words that I never said, and they got caught because I believe somebody at the BBC said this is so bad, it has to be reported. Let’s call [it] fake news.”
Responding to the filing of the lawsuit, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed said: “Keir Starmer needs to stand up for the BBC against Trump’s outrageous legal threat and protect licence fee payers from being hit in the pocket.
“The Trump administration has clearly set out they want to interfere in our democracy, which includes undermining our national broadcaster. The prime minister needs to make clear this is unacceptable.”
Minister Stephen Kinnock said the Labour Party will “always stand up for the BBC as a vitally important institution” but insisted that it is an “independent organisation”.
Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer should defend the broadcaster against Mr Trump’s threats, Mr Kinnock told Sky News: “It's absolutely right that the BBC is an independent organisation.
“I think 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.
“I think it’s right that the BBC stands firm on that point. They’re right to stick by their guns on that.”
He added: “The government is a massive supporter of the BBC. The Labour Party will always stand up for the BBC as a vitally important institution in both our political life and, of course, in terms of entertaining and informing the British public.”
The threat of legal action followed the leak of a document written by Michael Prescott, the former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee, which made accusations of several instances of bias, including the doctored Panorama episode.
BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for an “error of judgement”, but said there was no basis for a defamation case.
In an email to staff, Mr Shah said: “There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements.
“In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public.
“I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.”
In the wake of the revelations, Mr Shah also sent a personal letter to the White House to apologise for the editing, while lawyers for the corporation wrote to the president’s legal team, a BBC spokesperson said.
In a legal filing from November, Mr Trump’s lawyers wrote: “Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide.
“Consequently, the BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”
Mr Trump has a history of suing news outlets in the US, and is currently engaged in legal action with the NYT and the Wall Street Journal.
In September, he filed a $15bn defamation and libel lawsuit against the NYT, calling it one of the most “degenerate newspapers” in the US, days after the newspaper published articles about his alleged ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In July, he launched legal action against the Wall Street Journal after it first reported the existence of a note featuring Mr Trump’s signature which was allegedly given to Epstein for his birthday.
Previous lawsuits against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, as well as the CBS news program 60 Minutes for its interview with Kamala Harris, were settled for $15m and $16m respectively.
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