Trump celebrates a 'Huge Victory' against the BBC: A judge rejects a motion to dismiss his $10 billion defamation lawsuit

President Donald Trump's lawsuit seeking $10,000,000 against the BBC will proceed in U.S. courts after Jeffrey Kuntz, a federal district judge in Florida, rejected on Tuesday the British broadcaster's request to dismiss the case, which centers on the editing of a speech by the president aired on the program "Panorama."

The controversy arose from a report by the British newspaper The Telegraph, which revealed how the documentary had spliced together two segments of the speech Trump delivered on January 6, 2021, which were nearly an hour apart in the original, in a way that implied he had called on his supporters to storm the Capitol. The scandal led to the resignation of the BBC's CEO, Tim Davie, and the head of its news division, Deborah Turness, as well as a public apology from the network's chairman, Samir Shah.

Trump reacted to the ruling with a triumphant outcry on Truth Social. As he wrote, the judge's decision represents "a Huge Victory against Fake News BBC, a terrible abuser of the truth."

In a 40-page ruling, Kuntz concluded that the president presented plausible arguments regarding the damage the montage caused to his reputation. He also found that the president's legal team had sufficiently argued the existence of actual malice, the standard U.S. courts require public figures to prove defamation, which entails demonstrating that the media outlet published something knowing it was false or without caring whether it was. In reaching that conclusion, the judge took into account the 55-minute gap between the spliced clips and the fact that the BBC's president admitted the edit gave a misleading impression.

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According to the judge, the BBC's editing was not a simple "trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated."

With this development, the case moves into a new phase that could lead to a jury trial in Florida next year. Before that, Trump must testify under oath by December 11, and BBC attorneys will have the opportunity to question him about the harm he claims to have suffered.

That statement was originally scheduled for October. Trump did not appear, citing commitments of national importance, although it later emerged that very same day he traveled to Mar-a-Lago to attend a fundraising event.

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The British broadcaster, however, scored a partial victory. Kuntz, whom Trump nominated as a federal judge in April, dismissed the other part of the lawsuit, in which the president accused the BBC of deceptive or unfair practices under Florida's consumer protection law. The judge ruled that an informative documentary does not constitute commercial speech and, therefore, does not fall under that regulation.

Trump's claim had already been scaled back in the preceding months. Initially, the president sought compensation for damages to his brand, properties and businesses, but he narrowed the lawsuit to damage to his reputation after the BBC requested documents regarding his assets.

Officials at the network expressed surprise at the decision, though they assured they would respect the process: "We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond through the proper legal process," a BBC spokesperson said.