BBC files motion to dismiss Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit in Florida court
The British broadcaster argues the Florida court lacks jurisdiction and that Trump failed to state a valid defamation claim over a 2024 Panorama documentary.
January 13, 2026
The BBC filed a motion Monday to dismiss President Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida last month, according to court documents.
Trump's legal team is seeking $5 billion in damages for defamation and $5 billion for an alleged violation of Florida trade practices law. The suit centers on a Panorama documentary that aired in the week before the November 2024 U.S. election, titled "Trump: A Second Chance?"
The documentary featured edited clips from Trump's January 6, 2021, speech at a rally before supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The spliced segments were taken from sections of his speech nearly an hour apart and presented the impression that Trump said: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell."
In its motion, the BBC argues that the Florida court lacks "personal jurisdiction" over the broadcaster, that the court venue is "improper," and that Trump has "failed to state a claim" for defamation. The corporation also contends that the Panorama programme was not aired in the United States and did not defame the president.
The BBC requested that all pre-trial proceedings, including discovery, be halted pending a ruling on the motion to dismiss.
The BBC previously apologized to Trump over the editing of the speech but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed that there was a basis for a defamation claim. A BBC spokesperson stated the broadcaster would defend the case.
The 33-page complaint filed by Trump's attorneys accuses the BBC of publishing "a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction" of him in the documentary.