By Aaron Miller-
MIAMI — A federal judge has scheduled a high-stakes jury trial for 15 February 2027 in President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), marking a significant escalation in the legal battle over a controversial 2024 documentary.
The order, issued Wednesday by US District Judge Roy K. Altman, mandates a two-week trial at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. US Courthouse in Miami. In a major blow to the broadcaster, Judge Altman rejected the BBC’s application to halt “discovery”—the pre-trial process where both sides exchange evidence—ruling that the corporation failed to show it would be unfairly prejudiced by the proceedings.
At the heart of the lawsuit is an episode of the BBC’s flagship programme Panorama, titled “Trump: A Second Chance?”, which aired shortly before the 2024 US election. The 33-page complaint alleges that the BBC engaged in a “staggering breach of journalistic ethics” by splicing together two separate parts of a speech Trump delivered on 6 January 2021. The resulting edit purportedly made it appear as though Trump had issued a single, continuous call for his supporters to march on the US Capitol and “fight like hell,” while omitting his simultaneous calls for peaceful protest.
The documentary’s fallout led to leadership changes at the BBC, with Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness resigning in late 2025 following a leaked internal memo questioning the edit [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bbc-donald-trump-apology-legal-threat-b2864955.html].
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While the BBC apologized for an “error of judgment” and retracted the program [pressgazette.co.uk], it disputes the basis for a defamation claim. Trump is seeking $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act [https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/judge-sets-feb-2027-date-150315643.html]. The BBC plans to argue the Florida court lacks jurisdiction as the program was not officially broadcast in the US. This case is part of a series of media legal actions involving Trump, including a $16 million settlement with CBS News
The order, made on February 11, said: “This matter is set for trial during the Court’s two-week trial calendar beginning February 15, 2027. Counsel for all parties shall also appear at a calendar call at 1:45 p.m. on February 9, 2027.
“Unless instructed otherwise by subsequent order, the trial and all other proceedings in this case shall be conducted in Courtroom 12-4 at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 400 N. Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33128.”
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Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC for editing one of his speeches in an episode of Panorama, towards the end of 2025.At the time, the BBC said documents filed at a court in Florida asked for five billion dollars (£3.7 billion) in damages for defamation, as well as the same amount for a claim of violating trade practices.
According to the Associated Press, the 33-page lawsuit accused the organisation of broadcasting a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump”, calling it “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election.
It also accused the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021” in order to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said”.
The scandal unfolded in 2025 after a leaked memo highlighted concerns about the way clips of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, were spliced together so it appeared he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.
At a press conference in November, Trump said: “In a little while, you’ll be seeing I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth literally. They had me saying things that I never said.”
After the report, which was written by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, was leaked, BBC chairman Samir Shah apologised on behalf of the BBC over an “error of judgment” and accepted the editing of the 2024 documentary gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.
The Panorama programme was broadcast a week before the US election in November 2024.
The BBC previously filed a motion to dismiss, claiming the Florida court lacks “personal jurisdiction” over the corporation, the court venue is “improper” and that Trump has “failed to state a claim”, according to court documents.
The corporation argued that it did not create, produce or broadcast the documentary in Florida and that Trump’s claim that the documentary was available in the US on streaming service BritBox is not true.
The fallout from the report by Prescott, also led to the resignation of both the BBC’S director-general Tim Davie and the head of news Deborah Turness.
A BBC spokesperson said: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case.
“We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
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