US Judge Orders Trump to Sit for Deposition by Dec. 11 in $10bn BBC Lawsuit
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A federal judge in Florida ordered President Donald Trump on Thursday to sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11 or face the possibility of having his $10 billion action dismissed, NBC News reported. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett handed down the order after the BBC’s lawyers complained that Trump was stalling, NBC News said. The Guardian reported that the judge threatened to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit unless he cooperates with the discovery process and sits for a deposition.
Trump was supposed to sit for a deposition on Oct. 16, but his lawyers told the BBC late last month that he would no longer be available to answer questions “due to other matters of national importance,” CBS News reported. BBC attorney Charles Tobin told Lett that was “fake news” — the matter turned out to be a political rally and a fundraiser, NBC News said. “He was participating in party politics and supported his candidates in the election, and he prioritized that over his obligations in this proceeding,” Tobin said, as quoted by NBC News. The BBC told the court that on the day of the scheduled deposition, Oct. 16, the president spoke at a rally in Georgia alongside GOP candidates for the Senate and governor, then traveled to his South Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, where he attended an event for the Republican National Committee, CBS News reported.
Trump’s attorneys had proposed postponing his deposition until late January, which Tobin said was too late, NBC News reported. Discovery in the case is supposed to close Dec. 18, and Trump is the most important witness in the case since he’s the one who claims he suffered billions of dollars in damages from the BBC’s 2024 story, Tobin told the court, according to NBC News. Lett also ruled that the deposition can be videotaped, a move Trump attorney Alejandro Brito argued against, and said only District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz has the power to extend the discovery deadline, NBC News reported. The president said he would be available for the deposition in the second or third week of January, according to the BBC.
Mr. Trump filed his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC in December over a documentary that featured spliced-together portions of a speech he gave outside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, CBS News reported. Mr. Trump alleged that the documentary, which aired in October 2024, just weeks before the presidential election, misled viewers and falsely depicted his remarks to supporters ahead of the crowd that marched to the U.S. Capitol and breached the building, CBS News said. The BBC said in November 2025 that it “sincerely regrets” how the clip of Mr. Trump’s speech was edited but disagreed that there was a basis for a defamation claim, CBS News reported.
The BBC declined to comment on the order, NBC News said. Asked about the deposition date, a spokesman for Trump’s personal legal team said in a statement that “President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference,” according to NBC News and CBS News.