Donald Trump drops part of $10b BBC lawsuit - but will press on against broadcaster itself

Mr Trump filed the lawsuit against the BBC after its Panorama programme spliced together two clips in a 12-second segment from the 2021 Capitol riots in its 2024 "Trump: A Second Chance?" documentary.

In the clip, Mr Trump supposedly said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.”

However, it later emerged that the footage had been "mangled" together with a 50-minute gap separating the two moments.

In court documents, the US President claimed that the edit had damaged “the value of his brand, properties, and businesses,".

In November, the BBC issued a grovelling apology for the "error of judgement".

It read: "This programme was reviewed after criticism of how President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech was edited.

"During that sequence, we showed excerpts taken from different parts of the speech.

"However, we accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action."

The corporation confirmed that the programme would not be broadcast again on any of its platforms.

A BBC spokesman said that while it "sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim".

On Thursday, the President agreed to drop his defamation claims against the broadcaster's production and commercial wings - but vowed to press on with his lawsuit against the main corporation, court documents revealed.

It read: “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.

“President Trump shall continue prosecuting his causes of action against Defendant British Broadcasting Corporation.”

The US Presdient has said he feels an "obligation" to see the lawsuit through, with the case now set for trial in Florida in February 2027.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness both stepped down in the wake of the scandal.

Mr Davie subsequently blamed "enemies" of the BBC for stoking the controversy surrounding the corporation, but declared the broadcaster "the very best of society".

The Southern District of Florida court, where the case is being heard, is considered favourable territory for the President, whose legal team filed the suit there.

A ruling on the document requests is expected in the coming weeks, ahead of the scheduled February 2027 trial date.