People walk outside BBC Broadcasting House in London. file | Image Credit: Reuters
A US judge rejected it BBCA motion to stay discovery in a $10 billion lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump over the editing of a speech in which he directed supporters to attack the US Capitol was filed Thursday (Feb. 12, 2026), court documents show.
Mr Trump has alleged that Britain’s publicly owned broadcaster defamed him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021 speech, in which he told supporters to march on the Capitol in one segment and in which he said “fight like hell”.
It omitted a long section where he called for peaceful protests.
Mr. Trump’s lawsuit alleges BBC accused him of defaming and violating a Florida law prohibiting deceptive and unfair business practices. They are seeking at least $5 billion in damages for each of the two counts of the lawsuit.
US District Judge Roy Altman on Wednesday (Feb 11, 2026) denied the British broadcaster’s application to stay the merits-based discovery phase, as documents showed that both sides could seek testimony from other parties in the lawsuit.
said the judge BBCIt has not been shown that his application was untimely or that it would be prejudiced if not granted. In a separate order, the judge fixed a two-week trial date for February 2027.
The BBC declined to comment.
The broadcaster previously said it would defend the case and seek to have the case dismissed, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction because the program was not broadcast in Florida and could not prove damages because the president was re-elected after it aired.
Published – February 12, 2026 08:02 pm IST
