Judge Orders Trump to Depose in BBC Defamation Case by December 11

A federal judge has ordered Donald Trump to appear for a deposition by December 11 in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, or risk having the case dismissed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett issued the order Thursday in Miami after the BBC's legal team complained that Trump had repeatedly delayed the deposition.

BBC attorney Charles Tobin informed the court that with only two months remaining in the discovery period, the plaintiff had yet to be deposed. The two parties had initially agreed to an October 16 deposition, but Trump canceled, citing a "matter of national importance." Tobin stated that Trump was instead campaigning in Georgia at the time, prioritizing political activities over the deposition.

Judge Lett cautioned that Trump could face sanctions, including the dismissal of his lawsuit, if he fails to meet the December 11 deadline, unless the discovery period is extended beyond December 18. Trump initiated the lawsuit in Florida last December, alleging that a BBC Panorama documentary defamed him by editing his January 6, 2021, speech to suggest he had encouraged violence at the U.S. Capitol. The BBC has apologized for the edit but denies defamation.

The broadcaster is seeking to have the case dismissed, arguing the documentary did not air in Florida or the U.S. and that Trump's claims do not meet the "actual malice" standard required for public figures. The BBC's lawyers also contended that Trump could not plausibly claim reputational harm, noting his victory in the 2024 election shortly after the documentary aired, where he carried Florida by a significant margin.

BBC lawyers reported in an October 13 filing that they had first requested deposition dates in July and faced repeated delays. They stated that Trump's lawyer informed them on September 28 that the former president was unavailable on October 16 due to "other matters of national importance" and failed to provide a replacement date. Trump's team subsequently indicated he had "no availability whatsoever" before the discovery deadline and proposed dates in January.

In addition to Trump, the BBC is seeking testimony from Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr., asserting they were with the former president as he revised and delivered his January 6 speech. The BBC noted that Kushner drafted a statement condemning the Capitol violence that was never issued by the White House. Trump's lawyers accused the BBC of attempting to exert "politically-driven leverage" over the former president through his family.

Attempts to serve subpoenas on Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at their Miami home were unsuccessful in May, with a Secret Service lawyer stating the agency was not authorized to accept them. A similar attempt to serve Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower also failed. Judge Lett ruled on October 9 that the BBC could serve the trio via certified mail and email to Trump's lawyers, though this ruling did not resolve any objections to the scope of the subpoenas.

Separately, lawyers for both sides debated the BBC's request to depose Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought federal charges against Trump related to the 2020 election. Trump's legal team argued that Smith lacks personal knowledge of the speech's creation and that his testimony would be duplicative, given his publicly available reports and testimony. The BBC countered that Smith is an authoritative source on the events and that Trump's lawsuit necessitates his testimony, particularly regarding claims that his speech incited violence. Smith's final report, released in January 2025, stated that prosecutors did not find direct evidence of Trump's specific intent to cause the violence that occurred on January 6.