BBC Asks Judge to Dismiss Trump’s $10B Defamation Suit Over 2021 Speech in Documentary

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) seeks dismissal of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit over editing of his 2021 speech in a documentary.

Trump accused the UK broadcaster of defaming him by splicing parts of his January 6, 2021, speech to make it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol. The documentary was broadcast in 2024, before Trump’s re-election victory.

Trump’s lawsuit alleges BBC violated Florida law prohibiting deceptive and unfair trade practices. The BBC has apologized for the edit but argues the lawsuit should be dismissed as Trump won the election post-documentary release, thus cannot claim harm to his reputation.

BBC lawyers argue that Trump could not prove the 12-second clip in question was intended to create a false impression. They also contend there is no jurisdiction to sue in Florida as the documentary was unavailable there and the case concerns UK entities’ role in a UK-focused documentary.