Trump’s $10 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against BBC Can Proceed, Judge Rules

The British broadcaster attempted to stay the suit, brought over its editing of Trump’s Jan. 6., 2021, speech, but a Florida judge has set a hearing date.

The logo of the BBC is displayed above the entrance of Broadcasting House, on Nov, 12, 2025 in London. Leon Neal/Getty Images

A judge has rejected the BBC’s application to dismiss a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over its editing of a speech that made it appear that he encouraged violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Lawyers acting for Britain’s publicly owned broadcaster had asked the judge to dismiss the claim, but the case is now set for a two-week hearing, beginning Feb. 15, 2027, at a Miami courthouse.

The lawsuit was filed in December, after a Panorama episode broadcast in 2024 came under scrutiny—initially through a leaked internal report—for creating the impression that Trump had encouraged violence among his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.

Clips from different parts of the president’s speech were spliced together to make it appear he told his supporters, who had gathered in Washington to show they did not accept the results of the 2020 presidential election: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you and we fight, we fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”

The Panorama program, broadcast in the UK on Oct. 28, 2024, one week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, omitted a lengthy section of Trump’s speech in which he called for peaceful protest.

The lawsuit alleges the BBC defamed Trump and violated a Florida law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. The president is seeking at least $5 billion in damages for each of the two separate counts in the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Roy Altman denied the broadcaster’s application to stay the discovery phase of the lawsuit, when each party can obtain evidence from the other, documents released on Feb. 12. reveal.

The judge said the BBC’s application was premature and had failed to demonstrate that the broadcaster would be prejudiced if the stay was not granted.

The BBC logo is displayed above the entrance to Broadcasting House in London on Nov. 10, 2025.  Leon Neal/Getty Images

Jurisdiction Dispute

The BBC said previously it would seek to have the case dismissed, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction because it did not broadcast the program in Florida, and that the president could not prove damages because he was reelected in 2024 after it aired.

The corporation disputes Trump’s claim that the Panorama episode in question was available in the United States on the Britbox streaming service. BBC iPlayer is geo-blocked, although lawyers have argued it could be watched by Americans using a VPN.

When details of the internal report on alleged BBC bias were reported by the UK media, the backlash led to the resignation of BBC Director General Tim Davie and the corporation’s head of news, Deborah Turness, last November.

“As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case,” a spokesperson for the BBC said on Feb. 12.

“We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

(Left) BBC News CEO Deborah Turness at an event in London on Oct. 13, 2022. (Right) BBC Director-General Tim Davie at the BBC World Service in London on April 28, 2022. Leon Neal/Getty Images, Hannah McKay/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

‘Error of Judgment’

BBC Chairman Samir Shah has previously apologized for what he termed an “error of judgment” over the Panorama editing.

The BBC, founded in 1922, has been criticized for alleged bias as well as for the way it is funded through a license fee, which is supposed to be paid by anyone who watches live television in the UK.

The license fee is currently 174.50 pounds ($227) per year and is collected through the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, meaning the corporation does not depend on advertising to fund its operations.

The BBC’s Royal Charter is up for renewal in 2027, with this process offering the opportunity for the license fee to be reexamined, modified, or scrapped altogether, with a growing number of people in the UK choosing not to pay it.

Multiple Media Litigations

Trump has taken legal action against a number of media outlets in the United States as part of what he has characterized as his war on “fake news.”

He is currently locked in a $15 billion legal battle with The New York Times, which he is suing for defamation, following lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News’ “60 Minutes” program, both of which were settled out of court by the news organizations’ parent companies.

The president also filed a lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch in July 2025 after the newspaper published a report alleging ties between Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump is unable to sue the BBC for defamation in the UK, as the one-year limitation for doing so has passed since the broadcasting of the program. In Florida, the time limit is two years.

To win damages, Trump’s lawyers will have to prove that the episode of Panorama in question was viewed in the United States and that it caused serious damage to his reputation.

The Feb. 11 court order from the Southern District of Florida states that parties must select a mediator by March 3 this year, and schedule a time, date, and place for mediation.

Reuters and PA Media contributed to this report.