US judge says Trump’s US$10 billion BBC defamation case can proceed

A federal judge on Tuesday (Nov 10) said that US President Donald Trump’s US$10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC over a misleadingly edited clip of a speech can go forward, but threw out Trump's unfair trade practices claim against the broadcaster.

Trump is suing Britain’s publicly funded broadcaster for at least US$10 billion over edited clips of a speech that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021. The case is one of several Trump has filed against the news media as part of a wider pressure campaign against coverage he dislikes.

US District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz in Florida declined to throw out Trump’s defamation claim against the BBC, saying Trump had plausibly alleged that the broadcaster damaged his reputation and knew or should have known the clip was misleading. Kuntz's ruling did not decide whether Trump has proven those claims.

Trump called the ruling a "huge victory" in a social media post. "We will continue fighting against, and defeating, all of those who try to deceive the American People!" he wrote.

A BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster was surprised by the decision but respects the court's authority and remains confident in its position.

The BBC has previously admitted the edits were misleading and apologised to Trump, though it denies being liable for defamation.

Trump’s lawsuit, filed in December in Florida federal court, accuses the BBC of defaming him by splicing together parts of the speech, including one section where he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another where he said "fight like hell". It omitted a section in which he called for peaceful protest.

The edited speech appeared in a BBC Panorama documentary shortly before the 2024 presidential election, which Trump won. A leaked internal BBC memo cited the edits as evidence of potential political bias, sparking a public relations crisis for the broadcaster and leading to high-level resignations.