Trump sued the BBC yesterday, claiming 10 billion dollars.

What does this concept mean? The BBC's total revenue for the year 2023 was only 6.5 billion dollars. Trump wants them to compensate for a year and a half of income.

As a result, the BBC president and news director resigned, and the documentary was taken down from all platforms.

| What exactly did the BBC do?

On December 15, Trump officially sued the BBC in federal court in Florida.

The cause was a documentary aired by the BBC one week before last year's election (Trump: A Second Chance?).

The BBC's operation:

They spliced together two segments of Trump's speeches from January 6, 2021:

First segment: calling on supporters to march to the Capitol
Second segment: saying 'fight like hell'

The edited effect: making audiences worldwide feel that Trump was directly inciting violence against the Capitol.

What’s worse, the BBC cut out Trump's call for 'peace'.

Trump's legal team described the BBC's actions in three words: 'intentional, malicious, deceptive'.

This is not an editing mistake; this is tampering.

| Timeline:

November 9-10: Trump's lawyers sent a letter demanding that the BBC retract the film and apologize, or face a lawsuit, asking for 1 billion dollars.
November 13: The BBC apologized, admitting a judgment error but refused to pay.
December 15: Trump directly sued, raising the demand to 10 billion dollars.

As a result, BBC president Tim Davie and news department CEO Deborah Turness resigned.

The documentary was permanently removed from all BBC platforms.

What does 10 billion dollars mean?
BBC's total revenue for 2023: over 5 billion pounds (about 6.5 billion dollars).

Trump wants the BBC to compensate for all income for a year and a half.

The lawsuit is very clear: defamation claim for 5 billion dollars.
Violating Florida's Trade Practices Act: another claim for 5 billion dollars.

Both sides have conflicting statements. The BBC stated: 'The plaintiff cannot prove that the BBC acted with 'actual malice', i.e., intentionally or recklessly published false information.'

In other words: we did not do it intentionally; it was just a judgment error.

Trump's response at the White House: 'They put words in my mouth. They made me say some terrible statements related to the Capitol riot that I never said.'

On one side is the BBC's 'judgment error', and on the other is Trump's 'malicious tampering'.

Who is right and who is wrong, the court will give the answer. But one thing is already certain: two high-ranking BBC executives have lost their jobs.

Some people ask: the documentary aired last year, why sue now?

The answer is simple: in the UK, defamation lawsuits must be filed within one year after the program airs, and that deadline has passed, so Trump chose to sue in the US.

Moreover, the timing is just right—Trump is set to take office on January 20.

Winning this lawsuit before taking office and clearing the stigma of 'inciting violence' is the best timing for him.

The most ironic part of this is that the BBC, established for 102 years, is one of the oldest media outlets globally, and its credibility has always been its hallmark.

But this malicious editing not only cost two executives their jobs but also plunged the BBC into a 10 billion dollar lawsuit.

The media's credibility has been destroyed.

Will Trump really get 10 billion dollars? The probability is low.

But the BBC's reputation is already beyond repair.