A federal judge in Florida has allowed US President Donald Trump’s defamation case against the BBC to go ahead after the broadcaster sought to dismiss it.
But Judge Jeffrey Kuntz dismissed a second claim in the $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit under the state’s unfair trade practices law.
The US president is suing the BBC over an episode of Panorama that edited together two different sections of a speech he gave before the riot at the US Capitol in 2021.
Trump called the judge’s ruling a “huge victory” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. 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 BBC spokesperson added: “We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond through the proper legal process.”
Judge Kuntz found Trump’s defamation allegations against the BBC sufficient for the case to continue, although he did not make a ruling on the merits of the case.
“Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day,” he wrote in Tuesday’s order.
Trump’s lawsuit – filed in Florida – accuses the BBC of “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively doctoring” the speech he gave outside the Capitol on 6 January 2021.
The BBC apologised and said that the broadcast had given “the mistaken impression that Trump made a direct call for violent action”.
The broadcaster has since asked that the court dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the programme does not meet the legal criteria for defamation and was not available in the US.
Along with defamation, Trump claimed in the lawsuit that the broadcaster had violated Florida law, specifically the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Kuntz on Tuesday dismissed that part of the lawsuit, ruling that the documentary did not constitute commercial speech.A judge ordered Trump last month to answer questions under oath in the lawsuit by 11 December, after the president cancelled a previous deposition last month, citing “matters of national importance”.
A lawyer representing the BBC said in court that Trump was campaigning in Georgia in October on the scheduled day and had “prioritised that” over answering their questions.
Earlier this year, Trump’s lawyers conceded they had no evidence that the documentary was available in the US on the BBC’s BritBox subscription service – as they originally argued – or on the BBC’s website, BBC Select or through US broadcasters.
Trump ultimately agreed to drop BBC Studios, the broadcaster’s commercial arm, from his defamation lawsuit, after the BBC argued that it had “no role in creating or producing the documentary”.
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