Judge lets Trump's $10 billion BBC defamation suit proceed but throws out one of two claims

A federal judge in Florida has allowed President Trump's defamation case against the BBC to go forward. Judge Jeffrey Kuntz denied the broadcaster's motion to dismiss the defamation claim on Tuesday, CBS News reported. He dismissed a second claim in the $10 billion suit, brought under Florida's unfair trade practices law, BBC News reported, ruling that the documentary was not commercial speech.

What the judge did and did not decide

Kuntz found the defamation allegations sufficient to continue but made no ruling on whether they are true. "Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day," he wrote, as quoted by both outlets. In plain terms, this ruling says the complaint is legally enough to keep going. It does not say the BBC defamed anyone.

The underlying dispute

The suit concerns an episode of the BBC's "Panorama" that aired a week before the 2024 election and spliced two parts of Trump's Jan. 6, 2021 speech. Trump's lawyers say the clips were 55 minutes apart and that the edit left out his call for peace, per CBS. The BBC apologized in November 2025 and said it "sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited," while saying it strongly disagrees there is a basis for a defamation claim. Trump's lawyers have also conceded they had no evidence the program was available in the US through BritBox or BBC channels, BBC News reported, and Trump dropped BBC Studios, the commercial arm, from the suit.

Reactions

Trump called the ruling "A Huge Victory against Fake News BBC, a terrible abuser of the truth" on Truth Social. A BBC spokesperson said: "We are surprised by this decision but respect the Court's authority and note the case will now proceed to the next stage."

What happens next

On Oct. 22 a judge in Miami ordered Trump to sit for a deposition with BBC lawyers by Dec. 11, warning of penalties including possible dismissal unless the discovery period is extended, CBS reported. Trump's lawyers had said he was unavailable in October because of "matters of national importance"; per CBS, he has said he can be deposed in the second or third week of January. Watch for whether that date is moved by agreement, and for any BBC move to appeal or narrow the claim. Our earlier report: judge orders deposition by Dec. 11.

Sources: CBS News, BBC News (the BBC is a party to the case). This is news reporting, not legal or investment advice.