U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to dismiss part of his $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC.
According to The Telegraph, Trump has dropped his claims against BBC Studios Distribution and BBC Studios Production, the broadcaster’s commercial and production arms. However, he is continuing with his case against the BBC at large, and there have been reports that the U.S. government is considering joining the battle.
“All claims in this action asserted against the Studios Defendants are hereby dismissed with prejudice, with each party to bear its own costs and attorney’s fees,” the court documents read via The Telegraph. “President Trump shall continue prosecuting his causes of action against Defendant British Broadcasting Corporation.”
Trump filed the lawsuit in a Florida court in December, alleging defamation and trade practices violations after the BBC’s “Panorama” condensed his Jan. 6 speech to make it seem like he said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” He is seeking $10 billion in damages.
The fallout over the edit caused both BBC director general Tim Davies and head of news Deborah Turness to resign. Though the BBC apologized for the edit and acknowledged it created “the mistaken impression” that Trump had “made a direct call for violent action,” the broadcaster rejected the president’s compensation demands and has maintained that there is no basis for a defamation claim.
On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. government may join his case against the BBC. According filings seen by the FT, the government told the Florida court “that it is considering participating in this litigation.” In response, the BBC said in a filing that the “conflict of interest is clear and stark” if the government were to join.
The BBC did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
The Trump vs. BBC case is set to go to trial in February 2027.
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