Judge allows Trump defamation case against BBC to proceed but tosses 1
claim
[November 12, 2026]
By JOCELYN NOVECK
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation case
against the BBC remains on track, for the moment.
A federal judge in Florida ruled late Tuesday that Trump’s defamation
claim could go forward, though he did not rule on the merits. The
publicly funded British broadcaster had sought to dismiss the case.
Judge Jeffrey Kuntz did dismiss part of the lawsuit, tossing out a Trump
claim that the BBC’s actions violated a Florida law concerning unfair
business practices.
Trump filed his lawsuit against the BBC in December. The Republican
president accused the BBC of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair
trade practices related to a documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance?” The
33-page lawsuit accused the BBC of broadcasting a “false, defamatory,
deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of
President Trump,” calling it “a brazen attempt to interfere in and
influence” the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
The BBC apologized about the editing of Trump footage
The BBC acknowledged that filmmakers had spliced together quotes from
different sections of the speech Trump delivered to his supporters on
Jan. 6, 2021, before the storming of the U.S. Capitol, to make it seem
that Trump was directly urging violence.
The broadcaster apologized over the editing, and that was something the
judge made note of in his ruling Wednesday allowing the case to go
forward. The head of the BBC and its top news executive both resigned.
But the broadcaster denies Trump’s claims that it defamed him.
In October, a different judge in Florida ordered Trump to sit for a
deposition in the case by Dec. 11. Lawyers for the BBC had complained
that Trump was delaying his appearance in his own lawsuit. Charles
Tobin, an attorney for the BBC, said that with two months left in the
discovery period, “we still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff.”
The BBC said in a statement after Tuesday's ruling that it was
“surprised by this decision but respect the court’s authority and note
the case will now proceed to the next stage."
“We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond
through the proper legal process," the broadcaster said.
Trump called Kuntz’s latest ruling a major victory.
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President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room
at the White House Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
“A Huge Victory against Fake News BBC, a terrible abuser of the
truth, just handed down by highly respected District Court Judge,
Jeffrey T. Kuntz, of the Southern District of Florida,” Trump posted
on his Truth Social platform.
“We will continue fighting against, and defeating, all of those who
try to deceive the American People!” Trump wrote Tuesday evening.
Judge said that BBC editing was ‘creating something different’
In his ruling, Kuntz described the editing done in the documentary,
splicing together two parts of the speech, as more egregious than
mere routine editing.
“Editing is often required,” the judge wrote. “However, given the
time disparity between the two statements, the distance itself tends
toward a plausible inference that BBC knew or should have known that
the segment they were creating would not and could not have been a
truthful statement. This was not trimming around the edges but
creating something different than what was stated in the speech. BBC
also had the entire speech available to them for nearly three years
by the time of the documentary.”
The judge also wrote that Trump might have a plausible argument to
demonstrate malice — whether or not he can ultimately prove this at
trial — given past BBC reporting about him.
“Trump paints a picture that demonstrates the BBC has a record of
allowing the publication of false statements in their portrayal of
Trump,” the ruling said. “BBC asks the Court to put on blinders and
treat the Panorama team as if they were blocked off from the rest of
the organization, ignorant of everything else going on at BBC.”
The lawsuit is one of several skirmishes between Trump and the news
media during his second term. Through administrative and executive
action and sometimes through lawsuits, he has chosen to take a more
aggressive approach toward the press and toward coverage he
dislikes.
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