Judge Refuses to Throw Out Trump's $10 Billion Lawsuit Against the BBC

A judge has refused to dismiss President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, so the case moves forward. Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz denied the broadcaster's motion to dismiss, a request to end a case before it reaches trial.

The lawsuit is about a BBC documentary on the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The programme, from the BBC's Panorama current affairs series, was titled "Trump: A Second Chance?" and aired shortly before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The complaint centres on editing. The programme set Trump's line "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you" beside a remark he made nearly an hour later: "And we fight. We fight like hell." The BBC apologised in November 2025, saying the edit gave "the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action." Two of the broadcaster's top executives resigned in the fallout.

Judge Kuntz ruled that Trump can argue the BBC should be held liable for splicing the two parts of the speech together. Variety reported that the judge allowed that argument to go ahead.

The BBC had argued that Trump could not show actual damages, meaning measurable financial or reputational harm. It also argued he could not prove "actual malice". That legal test, set by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1964 case New York Times v. Sullivan, requires a public figure to show that a publisher knew a statement was false or recklessly disregarded the truth. In his ruling, Kuntz criticised that precedent while acknowledging he is bound by it.

A BBC spokesperson said the organisation was surprised by the ruling. The spokesperson said the BBC respects the court's authority and that the case will proceed to the next stage.

Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social, calling it "a Huge Victory against Fake News BBC."

The next stage is discovery, the period when both sides can demand documents and sworn testimony from each other. Trump has been ordered to sit for a deposition by December 11. A deposition is a recorded question-and-answer session held outside the courtroom, with the answers given under oath.

Kuntz was appointed to the bench by Trump earlier this year. As a Florida appellate judge, he wrote an opinion that allowed Trump to sue members of the Pulitzer board.

The ruling does not decide whether the BBC is liable. It decides only that the case can continue, and that the question of how the speech was edited will be tested in court.