Judge permits Trump to amend BBC defamation suit, limiting financial disclosure
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A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump can revise his defamation lawsuit against the BBC to remove claims about his businesses, likely preventing the broadcaster from obtaining extensive financial records.
A U.S. district judge on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to file an amended complaint in his defamation case against the British broadcaster BBC, removing allegations that the outlet harmed his business interests. The change narrows the scope of potential damages and may limit the BBC’s ability to seek discovery of Trump’s financial information.
Judge Carl J. Alston instructed Trump to submit the revised filing that same day. He noted that while the amendment could affect the breadth of discovery, any final determination on the plaintiff’s obligations will be addressed by Magistrate Judge John Lett, who previously ordered the Trump trust to produce documents.
The BBC had argued that Trump’s commercial activities are closely tied to his public reputation, a point highlighted by the network’s attorney Chuck Tobin, who said, "You cannot separate the man and his reputation from his operation of his businesses."
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $6.4 billion, held in a revocable trust managed by his son. The original subpoena sought tax returns and valuations for hundreds of Trump-linked enterprises, but the revised complaint removes the business-related defamation claims, potentially excluding many of those documents from disclosure.
The lawsuit stems from a 2024 BBC Panorama documentary that quoted Trump’s remarks on January 6, which the broadcaster later apologized for, stating the edit gave a misleading impression of his call for violence. The BBC maintains that the program was not defamatory.