Donald Trump has dropped the portion of his $10 billion defamation lawsuit that targeted BBC Studios, the corporation's commercial arm, while continuing to pursue the BBC itself over its edited Panorama documentary. Court filings confirmed all claims against the "Studios Defendants" were dismissed with prejudice, with each side bearing its own costs, while Trump "shall continue prosecuting his causes of action" against the BBC. The case centres on a Panorama edit that spliced together two sections of Trump's January 6 Capitol speech in a way he alleges was "false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory and malicious"; the row had already cost the BBC's director general and head of news their jobs, and the corporation has apologised for the edit while disputing the US court's jurisdiction.

BBC Studios had been named partly because it owns BritBox International, the streaming service Trump claimed carried the offending edit to American viewers, though the BBC maintains the documentary never aired in the US. Trump is seeking $5 billion for defamation and a further $5 billion for alleged violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, with trial set for February 2027. Separately, the Financial Times reported that the US government is weighing whether to join Trump's litigation, a prospect the BBC has said creates a "conflict of interest" between the state and the president.