A US judge has cleared President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, a major blow to the public broadcaster.
The US president’s civil case alleges that the British television network deceptively edited a January 6 documentary, claiming the network acted maliciously to damage its reputation.
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Jeffrey T Kuntz, a Trump-appointed federal district judge in the Southern District of Florida, issued a 40-page ruling on Tuesday partially denying the British broadcaster’s motion to dismiss the case.
It ruled that Trump’s claim that the broadcaster damaged his reputation and knew or should have known the clip was misleading was “plausible” or credible. Although Kuntz’s decision advances the case, it does not establish whether Trump has proven these claims.
The president’s case against the BBC centers on an October 2024 documentary titled Trump: A Second Chance?
It features excerpts from a Jan. 6, 2021, speech Trump gave to his supporters, in which he reportedly ordered attendees to storm the U.S. Capitol, the seat of the U.S. Congress, as lawmakers voted to certify former President Joe Biden’s victory.
The president alleged that the documentary was selectively edited, with incorrect sequencing of two separate video and audio clips of the same speech — spaced nearly 55 minutes apart — and editing of the footage to make it appear as if he was directly calling for violence.
The two selected clips included a section in which he told his supporters to march to the Capitol, and another where he said, “Fight like hell.”
Trump has maintained that he never told his supporters to commit violence in an effort to prevent a peaceful transition of power, although he has long falsely claimed that vote rigging cost him the 2020 race.
Trump had also said that edited sections of his speech omitted his calls for peaceful protests.
The BBC admitted the edit was misleading and apologized to Trump on November 13, 2025, a month before he took legal action. In seeking to have the case dismissed, he argued that his edits summarized a 70-minute speech, which the judge rejected.
BBC ‘surprised by decision’
However, the channel continues to deny having defamed the president.
Following the ruling, a BBC spokesperson said: “We are surprised by this decision, but respect the authority of the Court and note that the case will now move to the next stage. We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond through the appropriate legal process.”
In an article published Tuesday by Truth Social, Trump called the latest move “a big victory against BBC fake news.”
After skipping his testimony scheduled for October to embark on the midterm campaign, the president faces a court-set deadline of December 11 to testify under oath, or risk having his defamation suit against the BBC dismissed.
The original lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court in December 2025, sought a minimum of $5 billion in damages each for alleged defamation and violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The judge rejected the second request on Tuesday.
The dispute over the edited speech, featured on the BBC’s Panorama show shortly before the 2024 presidential election, caused a public relations crisis for the channel, leading to the resignation of its two most senior executives.
The BBC case is one of several that Trump has filed privately against the press, part of a broader pressure campaign targeting reporting he doesn’t like.
In several jurisdictions, its lawyers have imposed staggering financial sanctions against major news outlets and publishers.
The president is currently embroiled in another $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, which he refiled in May after it was dismissed. A judge dismissed the suit filed Oct. 31, and Trump appealed. Another defamation case seeks $15 billion in damages from the New York Times and Penguin Random House, a book publisher.
In September, the president also moved to exclude CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House and its press pool — a blanket ban that a federal judge later blocked, although media outlets continued to fight ongoing exclusions from Air Force One and the Oval Office.
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