Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the BBC over its editing of a speech he made to supporters in Washington before they stormed the US Capitol in 2021, requesting up to $10bn in damages, writes The Guardian.

The US president alleged the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” edited his 6 January speech before the insurrection, in an episode of Panorama just over a year ago.

In a complaint filed on Monday evening, Trump sought USD 5bn in damages each on two counts: alleging that the BBC defamed him, and that violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

The Panorama edit, taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart, suggested Trump told 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 BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. It has previously acknowledged the editing was an “error of judgment” and apologized to Trump, but insisted there was no legal basis for a defamation claim.

Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, and Deborah Turness, the head of BBC News, resigned over the affair last month. They announced their departures at the height of a crisis sparked by allegations of “serious and systemic problems” in the BBC’s coverage of issues including Trump, Gaza and trans issues. The claims were leveled by Michael Prescott, a PR executive and former independent external adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC), in a memo sent to the broadcaster’s board, and eventually leaked to the Daily Telegraph.

Trump has long tried to used legal threats and lawsuits to pressure news companies that produce coverage he does not like. His lawsuit against the BBC takes this campaign global. It was filed at the US district court for the southern district of Florida – even though BBC iPlayer, the main streaming platform that carries Panorama, and BBC One, the main TV channel that broadcasts it, are not available in the US. The episode never aired in the US.

A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team nevertheless claimed the edits of his speech, which were aired a week before the 2024 presidential election, amounted to a “brazen attempt” to interfere in the contest: “The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda. President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing”.

The Florida court has jurisdiction over this case, Trump’s lawsuit argued, because the BBC is “engaged in substantial and not isolated business activities” in the state. It pointed to the BBC’s website and BritBox, a streaming platform it operates in several markets including the US.