Donald Trump’s $10billion lawsuit against BBC to go ahead as trial date set

The BBC is being sued over a Panorama documentary which edited clips of a Donald Trump speech to make it look like he ordered his followers to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021

Donald Trump’s multi-billion dollar defamation case against the BBC is set to go ahead next year despite the broadcaster’s efforts to have it thrown out. The US President demanded a whopping $10billion (£7.5billion) in damages after the Beeb edited one of his speeches.

The altered Panorama clip made it appear like Trump had ordered his supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The 79-year-old previously said he has an “obligation” to take legal action despite the BBC apologising for its error.

The broadcaster also clarified the Panorama episode would “not be broadcast again in this form or on any BBC platforms”. Court documents show a Florida judge has now set a date early next year for the trial.

The document read: “This matter is set for trial during the Court’s two-week trial calendar beginning February 15, 2027.”

The October 2024 BBC documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” cut parts of Trump’s speech, reportedly changing the meaning of what he told supporters.

His speech was spliced to show him saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

The BBC doc was released days before the 2024 US election faceoff between Republican Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

It comes as Trump was last week slammed as ‘disgusting’ for appearing to share a video of Michelle and Barack Obama as apes. With no words on the Truth Social post, Trump’s account shared a video about unfounded claims of 2020 election fraud in Pennsylvania.

However, at around 59 seconds in, a believed to be AI-generated clip of the Obamas’ faces are superimposed onto the bodies of apes. The image is shared along with the 1961 song by the Tokens, The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

The clip of the Obamas features an “@XERIAS_X” watermark. This is the X account that claims credit for the “fighter jet poop” AI video, which was also posted by Trump during last year’s “No Kings” protests.

The post has sparked a backlash since it was posted on February 5.

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