Judge Lets Trump’s Defamation Claim Against BBC Proceed, Dismisses Trade-Practices Count

A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday, November 10, allowed President Donald Trump’s defamation claim against the BBC to proceed, denying the broadcaster’s motion to dismiss it. US District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the lawsuit’s second claim, brought under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, ruling that the documentary at the center of the case was not commercial speech. In a 40-page order, Kuntz rejected the BBC’s argument that the programme had simply condensed a seventy-minute speech into twelve seconds. “This was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech,” he wrote. He found a plausible inference that the BBC knew or should have known the segment could not be a truthful statement, but did not rule on the merits, writing that whether Trump can prove his claims and damages at summary judgment or trial “is left for another day.” The court also found it has specific jurisdiction over the BBC. Trump called the decision “A Huge Victory against Fake News BBC, a terrible abuser of the truth” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening. 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.” The spokesperson added that the BBC remains confident in its position and will keep responding through the legal process. The $10 billion lawsuit concerns a Panorama documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance,” broadcast on October 28, 2024, which edited together two separate passages of Trump’s speech of January 6, 2021. The BBC’s chairman later apologized, saying the edit “gave the mistaken impression that you had made a direct call for violent action.” The BBC had argued that the programme did not meet the legal test for defamation and was not available in the United States. The order gives the BBC until December 1 to answer the defamation claim. In October, a judge ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in the case by December 11.