A federal judge has ruled that US President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC over a misleadingly edited clip of a speech can proceed, but dismissed his claim of unfair trade practices against the broadcaster.
Trump is suing Britain’s publicly funded broadcaster for at least $10 billion over edited clips of a speech that made it appear he had directed supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The case is one of several lawsuits Trump has filed against news organisations as part of a wider campaign to challenge media coverage he dislikes.
US District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz in Florida declined to dismiss Trump’s defamation claim, ruling that he had plausibly alleged that the broadcaster had damaged his reputation and knew, or should have known, that the edited clip was misleading. However, the ruling did not determine whether Trump had established those allegations.
Trump described the decision as 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 respected the court’s authority and remained confident in its position.
The BBC has previously acknowledged that the edits were misleading and apologised to Trump, although it denies being legally liable for defamation.
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in December in a Florida federal court, accuses the BBC of defaming him by splicing together separate sections of his speech. These included a passage in which he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another in which he urged them to “fight like hell”. The edited version omitted a section in which he called for peaceful protest.
The speech was featured in a BBC Panorama documentary shortly before the 2024 presidential election, which Trump won. A leaked internal BBC memo subsequently cited the edits as evidence of potential political bias, triggering a public relations crisis for the broadcaster and leading to several high-level resignations.
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