Florida court rules Donald Trump’s defamation case against BBC can proceed

A Florida court has dismissed the BBC’s attempt to have US President Donald Trump’s 10 billion dollar (£7.5 billion) defamation claim against the broadcaster thrown out.

Mr Trump is seeking substantial damages in a Florida court over the editing of a 2024 Panorama documentary about the US Capitol riots.

The documentary faced criticism for giving the impression Mr Trump had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol building on January 6 2021 after he lost the 2020 White House race to Joe Biden.

The BBC had been seeking to have the case thrown out, warning of the “chilling effect” it would have on “robust reporting on public figures and events”.

According to court documents filed in the United States District Court in Florida on Tuesday, District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz declined to dismiss Mr Trump’s defamation claim, saying the president “plausibly alleged” he suffered reputational harm as a result of the editing in the documentary.

The ruling did not decide whether Mr Trump’s claims were proven.

The court documents state: “Trump has plausibly alleged a comprehensive framework of actual malice by alleging the context in which the speech was edited along with a long list of circumstantial evidence to support a showing of actual malice with respect to the
edit.”

Another claim from Mr Trump’s legal team accusing the broadcaster of unfair trade practices was dismissed.

Responding to the court ruling, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: “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.

“In his powerful ruling, Judge Kuntz wrote, “Here, the news entity created the story. BBC admitted as much by confirming it had edited a video to make it appear as though President Trump made a statement he never made.”

“We will continue fighting against, and defeating, all of those who try to deceive the American People!”

A BBC spokesperson said in a statement: “We are 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. It would be inappropriate to comment further while proceedings are ongoing.”

The allegations against the documentary led the then-BBC director-general Tim Davie to announce his resignation.

BBC chairman Samir Shah apologised on behalf of the broadcaster over an “error of judgment” and accepted the editing of the programme gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.

The BBC has been ordered to file a response to the ruling by December 1.