Lawyers for the BBC are asking a Florida court to compel former President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in the $10 billion defamation case he brought against the broadcaster. The BBC's legal team stated in a filing this week that Trump is attempting to delay his testimony until January 2027.
According to the filing, Trump's legal team initially agreed to an Oct. 16 deposition date but later canceled it, citing "matters of national importance." BBC lawyers wrote that after weeks of silence, Trump's counsel indicated on Sept. 28 that the former president was no longer available and would "endeavor to provide you with a replacement date by the end of this week," but failed to do so.
More recently, Trump's team informed the BBC that he has "no availability whatsoever for a deposition" before discovery closes on Dec. 18. They proposed making him available in January 2027. The BBC lawyers argue these delays have hindered their ability to gather necessary evidence for their defense.
Trump filed the lawsuit against the BBC in December, seeking $10 billion in damages. He accused the broadcaster of defamation and deceptive trade practices related to a documentary titled "Trump: A Second Chance." The lawsuit alleged that the BBC spliced together quotes from a Jan. 6, 2021, speech to falsely depict Trump as urging violence, which he claims was a "brazen attempt to interfere in and influence" the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
The BBC acknowledged that filmmakers edited together quotes from different parts of Trump's speech. The broadcaster issued an apology to Trump regarding the edit, and the head of the BBC and its top news executive resigned. However, the BBC has denied defaming Trump.
A spokesperson for Trump's legal team did not directly address the reasons for the delay in the deposition but reiterated their allegations against the BBC, stating the president is holding the broadcaster accountable for "defamation and reckless election interference."
This legal dispute follows a pattern for Trump, who voluntarily dropped a $500 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Michael Cohen in 2023 days before he was scheduled to be deposed in that case.