Federal Court Sides With Trump Over Media Outlet In 11th Hour Decision
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Thursday granted President Trump’s emergency motion for a stay, temporarily blocking the BBC from accessing his financial records in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the company.
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The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust sought the after U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ordered July 27 that the BBC be given access to certain financial records. Without the stay, the trust would have been required to produce tax returns, financial statements and ownership records for about 400 corporate entities by Thursday, according to the order and CNBC.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the BBC’s request was “shockingly broad” and could cause damage if the company had access to confidential information and the order was later overturned, CNBC reported.
The BBC sought access to Trump’s financial records after he claimed a documentary about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol damaged the reputation and value of his brand, properties and businesses, according to the emergency stay order and CNBC.
Trump lodged a more than $5 billion defamation suit against the BBC in December 2025. In the lawsuit, Trump accused the BBC of maliciously misleading its viewers in a 2024 documentary and splicing two separate comments he’d made during a Jan. 6, 2021 speech in a way that appeared to urge his supporters to engage in violence ahead of the certification of the 2020 election results.
Trump also said the incident is “part of the BBC’s longstanding pattern of manipulating [his] speeches and presenting content in a misleading manner in order to defame him, including fabricating calls for violence that he never made,” according to the same lawsuit. (RELATED: The Woman Who Won Millions From Trump Is Reportedly Now Under Federal Investigation)
While the BBC apologized to Trump for splicing clips of his speech into the documentary, the company claimed he lacked grounds for a defamation suit, Politico reported.
Prior to issuing the Thursday emergency stay order, Lett sided with the BBC, according to CNBC. The order does not permanently shield Trump’s financial records, and a court must decide whether the BBC is entitled to access them to examine Trump’s claim.
Even if the BBC obtains the records, a protective order could protect them from being made public.
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