Donald Trump, who accuses the BBC of producing a misleading video montage of him, filed a lawsuit on Monday against the British public broadcaster, seeking $10 billion in damages, including for defamation, according to court documents.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Miami by the US president and reviewed by AFP, seeks "damages in the amount of at least $5 billion" for each of the two charges: defamation and violation of a Florida law on deceptive and unfair business practices.

"They literally put words in my mouth," the 79-year-old billionaire complained to the press on Monday.

A few weeks ago, the American president stated that he would demand "between one and five billion dollars" from the BBC.

The British media group, whose audience and reputation extend beyond the borders of the United Kingdom, has been in turmoil since revelations about its flagship news magazine "Panorama".

Just before the 2024 US presidential election, the latter released separate excerpts from a speech by Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, edited in such a way that the Republican appears to explicitly call on his supporters to attack the Capitol in Washington.

Hundreds of his supporters, whipped into a frenzy by his baseless accusations of election fraud, stormed the sanctuary of American democracy that day, in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory.

"The BBC, once respected and now discredited, has defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously and deceptively altering his speech with the blatant aim of interfering in the 2024 presidential election," a spokesman for the Republican's lawyers told AFP on Monday.

"The BBC has a long history of misleading its audience in its coverage of President Trump, in service of its left-wing political agenda," he added.

Letter of apology

In the United Kingdom, the controversy has reignited the heated debate on the functioning of public broadcasting and its impartiality, as the group has already been shaken in recent years by several controversies and scandals.

The affair led to the resignation of its chief executive Tim Davie and its head of information Deborah Turness.

BBC chairman Samir Shah sent a letter of apology to Donald Trump, but it failed to appease him. He rejected the US president's accusations and stated his determination to contest any defamation lawsuit.

Donald Trump's lawsuit alleges that, despite its apologies, the BBC "has shown neither genuine remorse for its actions nor undertaken significant institutional reforms to prevent future journalistic abuses."

The US president has launched or threatened to launch lawsuits against several media groups in the United States, some of which have paid substantial sums to settle the lawsuits.

Since returning to power, he has brought many content creators and influencers who are favorable to him into the White House, while simultaneously multiplying insults against journalists from traditional media.

One of these newcomers invited by the Trump government is the British conservative channel GB News, which is close to the leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, Nigel Farage.