A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by December 11 in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC — or risk having the case thrown out.
Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett issued the ruling on Thursday after BBC lawyers complained that the president had been delaying his sworn testimony. Trump had been due to sit for the deposition on October 16 but skipped the date, with his lawyers citing "matters of national importance." Charles Tobin, a lawyer for the BBC, told the court the president had in fact been campaigning in Georgia. "He was participating in party politics and prioritised that over sitting for the deposition," Tobin said.
Under the order, Trump must give his deposition by December 11 unless the discovery period is extended past December 18. If he misses the deadline without an extension, he faces dismissal of the lawsuit.
Trump sued the BBC last year over a 2024 Panorama documentary, "Trump: A Second Chance?", broadcast shortly before the 2024 presidential election. The program spliced together clips from different parts of Trump's January 6, 2021 speech, joining his words "we're going to walk down to the Capitol… and I'll be there with you" with "we fight, we fight like hell" — lines delivered much later in the speech, with a gap of nearly an hour removed. A portion in which Trump urged supporters to act "peacefully" was cut, and the speech footage was overlaid with images of the Proud Boys marching to the Capitol, making it appear Trump had directly called for the violence that followed.
The lawsuit seeks $5 billion in defamation damages and a further $5 billion for alleged violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The BBC has formally apologized, with chairman Samir Shah calling the edit an "error of judgment," while insisting the documentary did not defame Trump. The broadcaster's director-general and its news CEO stepped down amid the controversy.
The BBC has also stressed that the documentary did not air in the United States and is not available on streaming services. Trump's legal team argues it has standing to sue in Florida because the program could be watched by BritBox subscribers or by Americans using virtual private networks. Earlier this month, the BBC subpoenaed former special counsel Jack Smith for testimony to support its case, a move Trump's team has objected to.
The BBC case is the largest of several media lawsuits Trump has pursued in his second term. He previously won a $16 million settlement from CBS News over edits to a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris and a $15 million settlement from ABC News. He has also filed a $14 billion suit against The New York Times and sued The Wall Street Journal.