A US federal judge has allowed Donald Trump’s $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC to proceed, rejecting the broadcaster’s request to dismiss the case.
Judge Jeffrey Kuntz of the federal court in Florida ruled on Tuesday that Trump’s defamation claims were legally sufficient to move forward. However, the judge stressed that the ruling did not establish that the BBC had defamed Trump. He will still have to prove his claims and show that the broadcaster caused him legally recognisable harm.
The case concerns a BBC Panorama documentary broadcast before the 2024 US presidential election. The programme edited together parts of a speech Trump gave on 6 January 2021, separating remarks made about 55 minutes apart. Mr Trump argues that the editing misleadingly suggested he had directly encouraged his supporters to engage in violence before the attack on the US Capitol.
The BBC later acknowledged that the editing had been misleading and apologised to Mr Trump, but it has continued to deny that the programme amounted to defamation.
Trump is seeking at least $10bn in damages. Following the ruling, he described the decision as a major victory. The BBC said it was surprised by the court’s decision but respected the judge’s authority and remained confident in its legal position.
The judge also dismissed Trump’s claim that the BBC had violated Florida’s unfair trade practices law, ruling that the documentary did not constitute commercial speech under the law.
The defamation claim will therefore continue, while the unfair trade practices claim has been removed from the case.
