Donald Trump claims ‘huge victory’ in $10bn BBC defamation lawsuit as judge allows case to proceed

The BBC had pleaded for the case to be thrown out, claiming the lawsuit would have a “chilling effect” on “robust reporting on public figures and events”.

But in his ruling, Judge Kuntz wrote: “Accepting the allegations in the complaint as true, the Court finds Trump plausibly pled damages where Trump alleges a defamatory documentary released toward the election caused reputational harm.

“It would be difficult for the Court to accept a different framing without completely negating the significance and fragility of political elections.”

Although the judge did not rule whether Mr Trump’s claims against the broadcaster were true, the judge said that “Trump’s allegations regarding BBC’s departure from journalistic standards are more than enough to plausibly alleged more than mere negligence”.