BBC asks US court to dismiss Trump’s $10 bn defamation suit

London: The BBC filed a motion Monday asking a US court to dismiss President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against it.

The British national broadcaster said that the Florida court where the case is expected to be heard does not have jurisdiction over it. It also argued that Trump could not show that it intended to misrepresent him.

Trump filed a lawsuit in December over the way a BBC documentary edited a speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021. The claim seeks $5 billion in damages for defamation and a further $5 billion for unfair trade practices. Last month a judge at the federal court of Florida provisionally set a trial date for February 2027. The BBC argued that the case should be thrown out because the documentary was never aired in Florida or the US. “We have therefore challenged jurisdiction of the Florida court and filed a motion to dismiss the president’s claim,” the corporation said in a statement.agencies