Plaintiff Trump gets reprieve from an order to disclose his finances in
BBC case — but only for now
[August 08, 2026]
By JOCELYN NOVECK
President Donald J. Trump, Plaintiff, got a welcome break this week in
one of his battles with the media — but for the moment, only a temporary
one.
As his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC proceeds, a federal judge in
Florida granted the president a temporary reprieve on Thursday from an
order that he begin divulging details of his business empire’s financial
performance — something he is clearly loath to do.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman agreed to put that order on hold while he
considers an amended complaint from Trump that would narrow his claim
that he suffered damage to both business and reputation. By focusing
only on the latter, Trump’s lawyers hope to avoid the need for the
financial disclosures. That updated complaint has not been made public.
Trump filed the lawsuit in December over the way the British
broadcaster, in a 2024 documentary, edited a speech he gave on Jan. 6,
2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington. It is one of
many actions he has taken in his second term against media coverage that
displeases him — in the courts, with executive action and in the overall
presidential bully pulpit.
Trump contends that the BBC's editing was misleading because it cut out,
among other parts, a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to
demonstrate peacefully. The claim seeks $5 billion in damages for
defamation and $5 billion for unfair trade practices.
The publicly funded broadcaster has apologized to Trump over the edit
but rejects claims it defamed him. The furor produced the resignations
of the BBC’s top executive and its head of news.
Judge finds new Trump argument noteworthy
In Thursday’s order, Altman said he found “compelling” Trump’s argument
that an amended complaint might remove the need for financial
disclosures, an argument the BBC disagrees with. Under the order from a
Miami-based magistrate judge, Enjoliqué Lett, Trump had been required to
start releasing financial records by Thursday from businesses held by
his family trust.
“If the plaintiff’s amendment obviates the need to compel a non-party to
disclose confidential financial information,” wrote Altman, a 2019 Trump
appointee, “we think it’s prudent to enter a brief stay of the Order
until the amendment request is resolved.”
But where will the case go from here. And did the Trump legal team
overreach in this case?
Seth Stern, advocacy director at the Freedom of the Press Foundation,
notes that the president can simply drop the lawsuit if the BBC proves
successful in arguing that disclosure of financial data is also relevant
to reputational harm.
“Trump has a history of filing lawsuits and then just dismissing them
before they get to discovery,” Stern said. “So there’s a chance he’ll do
that and I’m sure it’ll give him a day or an hour of embarrassing
headlines. But as we’ve seen countless times with Trump’s administration
... no one headline seems to stick for very long, and I suspect that one
would be no different.”
Stern thinks the BBC would be correct in arguing that financial data
would still be relevant in the case. After all, the president is
contending he suffered $10 billion worth of reputational harm.
“You cannot claim $10 billion in reputational damages when you’re the
president of the United States and you won the presidential election
after the reporting that you’re complaining about," he said. “That makes
no sense.”
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The BBC logo is displayed at its headquarters in London, Nov. 12,
2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
 He added: “For him to say that
discovery into his economic damages is intrusive or in any way
problematic, after he placed such an outrageous damages number on
his lawsuit, is absurd."
For now, the BBC trial is set for February
How long the legal maneuvering will take remains unclear. A trial is
provisionally set for February in the case, which is just one of a
host of legal actions Trump has initiated against media
organizations whose coverage draws his ire.
The president is also seeking $10 billion in an ongoing defamation
case against The Wall Street Journal over a sexually suggestive
letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that the newspaper
said bore Trump’s signature. His Justice Department recently issued
and then withdrew subpoenas to several New York Times journalists
who reported on security concerns about his new, Qatari-gifted Air
Force One jet.
Trump and his administration is also engaged in a battle with ABC,
whose coverage he often objects to. His Federal Communications
Commission has launched an early review of eight ABC local broadcast
licenses well before they expire. Its chairman, Brendan Carr, also
appears to be seeking to penalize ABC’s “The View,” where some hosts
speak out against Trump, by revoking its exemption from equal-time
rules.
The Associated Press has also sued Trump over access to the White
House press pool, from which the news organization was curtailed for
sticking with the name “Gulf of Mexico” after the administration
ordered it rechristened the “Gulf of America.” The AP said it was
retaining the term because the body of water crossed borders, but
that it would would also note Trump's renaming.
Stern, at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, feels that Trump will
continue to press lawsuits — even those he may have no expectation
of winning — unless courts suddenly decide to sanction his attorneys
for filing frivolous lawsuits.
“Trump doesn’t care about losing a lawsuit or about spending a
little bit of money on legal fees,” Stern says. “He understands full
well that these aren’t cases he’s going to win. (But) he’s counting
on them costing the defendants more than they cost him, in money,
time and distraction. He’s counting on the initial headlines when he
files a $10 billion lawsuit, making a big splash, and then his
subsequent losses being an afterthought."
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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment
for The Associated Press.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
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