Judge Refuses to Dismiss Trump's $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against the BBC

A federal judge on Tuesday denied the BBC's motion to dismiss President Trump's defamation lawsuit, allowing the $10 billion case over a documentary's edit of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech to proceed.

Judge Jeffrey Kuntz of the Southern District of Florida wrote that "whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day." The ruling does not decide whether the BBC defamed Trump. It only finds that the claims are enough to continue.

Trump filed the suit in December 2025 against the British Broadcasting Corporation over an episode of its "Panorama" program that aired a week before the 2024 election. His lawyers accuse the network of publishing a "false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory and malicious depiction" of him. The complaint says the BBC "intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers" by splicing together two clips from the same speech, which it says were 55 minutes apart, and by leaving out his statement calling for peace.

Trump celebrated the decision on his Truth Social platform, calling it "A Huge Victory against Fake News BBC, a terrible abuser of the truth." A BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster was "surprised by this decision but respect the Court's authority," and noted that the case will now move to the next stage. "We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond through the proper legal process," the spokesperson said.

The BBC has already apologized over the edit. In November 2025, BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a personal letter to the White House saying he and the corporation were sorry for how the president's speech was edited. The BBC's press office said at the time that it "sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited" but "strongly disagree[s] there is a basis for a defamation claim."

The ruling arrives as a deposition fight plays out in the same case. On Oct. 22, a federal judge in Miami said Trump must sit for a deposition with BBC lawyers by Dec. 11. The judge warned that if he did not, he could face penalties, up to and including dismissal of his own lawsuit, unless the discovery period is extended.

Trump was originally due to be deposed in October, but his lawyers told the BBC in late September he would no longer be available because of "other matters of national importance." According to the BBC, the president has said he will be available in the second or third week of January.

The case puts a sitting president in the unusual position of having to answer a foreign broadcaster's lawyers under oath. The Dec. 11 deadline and the January date Trump has offered do not line up, and how the court resolves that gap will shape the next phase of the dispute.