Judge Orders Trump to Sit for BBC Deposition by Dec. 11
A federal magistrate judge in Miami said Trump must be questioned under oath by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC or risk sanctions.
A federal judge in Miami on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition with the BBC’s lawyers by Dec. 11 in the $10 billion defamation lawsuit he filed against the British broadcaster, warning that failure to comply could bring sanctions as severe as dismissal of his case. The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett came after the BBC complained that it had been unable to question the president under oath nearly eight months into the case, according to CBS News, NBC News and the Associated Press.
What happened
Lett set the deadline at a hearing on Oct. 22, saying the deposition must take place before Dec. 11 unless the case’s evidence-gathering period, known as discovery, is extended. Discovery is currently scheduled to close on Dec. 18. The Associated Press reported that Lett noted only the presiding judge in the case can change the overall trial schedule.
NBC News reported that Lett also ruled the deposition may be videotaped, over objections from Trump’s attorneys.
The dispute centers on a deposition that both sides had agreed to hold on Oct. 16. According to CBS News, Trump’s lawyers informed the BBC late last month that he would no longer be available “due to other matters of national importance.” Charles Tobin, an attorney for the BBC, told the court that Trump instead spent that day campaigning. CBS News reported that, according to the BBC’s filings, the president appeared at a rally in Georgia with Republican Senate and governor candidates and then attended a Republican National Committee event at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition,” Tobin said, according to NBC News. The AP quoted him as telling the court that, with two months left in discovery, “we still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff.”
Trump’s legal team had offered to schedule the questioning in January. CBS News said the president indicated availability in the second or third week of January, while NBC News described the proposal as late January. The AP reported that Trump’s lawyers said they would be open to a later date if the trial schedule were pushed back as well. A spokesman for Trump’s legal team did not directly address the order but said the lawsuit “is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference,” according to CBS News and NBC News. The BBC declined to comment, NBC News reported.
The lawsuit
Trump filed the suit in December 2025 over a documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance?”, that aired in October 2024, weeks before that year’s presidential election. The program spliced together portions of the speech Trump gave near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, before a crowd of his supporters marched to the U.S. Capitol and breached the building while Congress was certifying the 2020 election results.
Trump alleges the edit misled viewers and falsely portrayed his remarks, and his complaint calls the depiction “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious,” NBC News reported. The suit also includes claims of deceptive and unfair trade practices, according to the AP.
The BBC has acknowledged that the clips were combined and apologized to the president. In November 2025, the broadcaster said it “sincerely regrets” the way the speech was edited, CBS News reported. The AP noted that the head of the BBC and its top news executive resigned amid the controversy. The BBC nonetheless denies that it defamed Trump and argues that he suffered no damages. NBC News noted that the documentary did not air in the United States.
Other disputes in the case
The hearing also addressed two other fights over evidence:
- Jack Smith: The BBC has subpoenaed testimony from Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel who brought criminal charges against Trump in 2023 over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Those charges were dropped after Trump won the 2024 election. The BBC argues Smith could shed light on the Jan. 6 speech, and Tobin told the court Smith has not objected. Alejandro Brito, an attorney for Trump, argued that Smith has no personal knowledge of the speech or of Trump’s state of mind and that his testimony would duplicate his final report and congressional appearances. The AP reported that no ruling on that question had been issued by the afternoon session.
- Mar-a-Lago records: The BBC sought records on membership applications and fees at Mar-a-Lago, arguing they are relevant because the suit claims the documentary injured Trump “in his profession, occupation and trade.” Brito argued Trump does not run the club and is not claiming damage to that business. According to the AP and NBC News, Lett agreed the BBC may obtain membership application records from Jan. 6, 2020, through Jan. 6, 2026, along with the total cost of membership and initiation fees for new applicants.
What comes next
Unless the presiding judge extends discovery, Trump must answer the BBC’s questions under oath within the next seven weeks. The BBC has described the president as “the most central figure in this case,” CBS News reported, and in an earlier filing it argued that a plaintiff’s refusal to be deposed “can be perilous to his claim.” None of the reports cited a trial date for the case.
