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Judge orders Trump to give deposition in his BBC lawsuit by 11 December
The BBC's lawyers told the court Trump cancelled an agreed deposition to campaign in Georgia. He could face sanctions, including dismissal of his $10 billion case, if he does not appear.
Key points
- A US magistrate judge ordered Trump to sit for a deposition by 11 December.
- Trump is suing the BBC for $10 billion over an edit of his 6 January 2021 speech.
- Failure to comply could bring sanctions, including possible dismissal of the suit.
A federal judge in the United States on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by 11 December in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, after the broadcaster’s lawyers accused him of putting off his appearance.
US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett set the deadline. Unless the discovery period, now due to close on 18 December, is extended, Trump could face sanctions if he does not comply, including the possible dismissal of his case.
Charles Tobin, a lawyer for the BBC, told the court that with two months of discovery left, “we still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff”. He said Trump had agreed to be questioned under oath on 16 October but cancelled, citing a “matter of national importance”. That day, Tobin said, Trump was campaigning in Georgia, where he held a rally in Dalton with the Senate candidate Mike Collins.
“He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition,” Tobin said.
Trump filed the suit in December 2025 over the BBC documentary “Trump: A Second Chance”, alleging defamation and deceptive and unfair trade practices. The 33-page complaint calls the programme a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump” and “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 presidential election.
The BBC has admitted that it edited parts of Trump’s speech of 6 January 2021 in a way that made it appear he was encouraging violence at the US Capitol. It apologised, and two senior executives resigned over the affair, but the corporation denies that it defamed him.
The order lands less than two weeks before the midterm elections, in which Trump has been campaigning across the country for Republican candidates.