Judge Sets February 2027 Trial Date for Trump’s $10 Billion BBC Defamation Suit
A federal judge in Florida has scheduled a trial date for President Donald Trump’s high-stakes defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman of the Southern District of Florida ruled on Thursday that the case will proceed to trial in February 2027, rejecting the British broadcaster’s attempts to delay the discovery process.
The lawsuit, which seeks a total of $10 billion in damages, centers on allegations that the BBC manipulated footage of Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech in a documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” aired just days before the 2024 presidential election. The complaint, filed by the President’s legal team in December 2025, accuses the broadcaster of “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” editing the speech to create a false narrative.
According to court filings, the dispute focuses on a specific sequence in the Panorama documentary where the BBC allegedly spliced together three separate quotes delivered almost an hour apart. The President’s attorneys argue that this editing technique made it appear as though Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” in a single, continuous statement. The lawsuit claims that the editors omitted key context, specifically a portion of the speech where Trump explicitly encouraged his supporters to demonstrate “peacefully and patriotically.”
Trump is seeking $5 billion for defamation and an additional $5 billion for alleged violations of Florida’s unfair trade practices law. His legal team asserts that the documentary was a “brazen attempt” to interfere in the 2024 election by damaging his reputation among voters.
The BBC has previously acknowledged that the editing of the speech was an “error of judgment” and issued an apology to the President. However, the publicly funded corporation has steadfastly rejected the claims of defamation, arguing that there was no “actual malice” intended. In recent court filings, the broadcaster indicated plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that the U.S. court lacks proper jurisdiction over the matter and that the plaintiff failed to state a valid claim.
To facilitate this dismissal motion, the BBC’s legal team had requested that Judge Altman stay the discovery process—the pre-trial phase where both sides must exchange evidence, emails, and internal documents. Judge Altman denied this request, calling the motion “premature” at this stage of the litigation. The ruling means the BBC may soon be required to hand over extensive internal communications regarding its editorial decisions and coverage of the President.
This legal battle is part of a broader wave of litigation initiated by President Trump against major media organizations. The case against the BBC is particularly notable as it targets a foreign national broadcaster in a U.S. court. If the case proceeds to the scheduled February 2027 trial, it will likely involve close scrutiny of the BBC’s editorial standards and internal decision-making processes regarding its political coverage.
* ctvnews.ca
* washingtonpost.com
* cbsnews.com
* theguardian.com
* youtube.com
* freedomforum.org
