Judge orders Trump to sit for deposition by 11 December in $10bn BBC lawsuit
A federal judge in Miami has ordered Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by 11 December in his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC, warning the case could be dismissed if he refuses — after the broadcaster said he cancelled an agreed October date to go campaigning.
A US federal judge has ordered Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by 11 December in his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC, warning the case could be dismissed if he fails to comply. (https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/22/politics/trump-deposition-10-billion-bbc-lawsuit; https://news9.com/national-politics-oklahoma/trump-bbc-deposition-defamation-lawsuit)
US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett issued the order from the bench during a hearing in Miami on Thursday, after the BBC complained that Trump had repeatedly dodged questioning. Trump had agreed to be deposed on 16 October, but his lawyers cancelled, citing “matters of national importance”. (https://news9.com/national-politics-oklahoma/trump-bbc-deposition-defamation-lawsuit; https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/judge-orders-trump-to-sit-deposition-in-10bn-bbc-lawsuit-stx2zr3sx)
BBC lawyer Charles Tobin told the court Trump had spent that day campaigning in Georgia, appearing at a rally with Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates before attending a Republican National Committee event at Mar-a-Lago. “He was participating in party politics and prioritised that over sitting for the deposition,” Tobin said. (https://news9.com/national-politics-oklahoma/trump-bbc-deposition-defamation-lawsuit; https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/judge-orders-trump-to-sit-deposition-in-10bn-bbc-lawsuit-stx2zr3sx)
Lett also backed a BBC subpoena for Mar-a-Lago membership records and said she doubted Trump’s document search had been thorough. Sanctions could extend to dismissal of the lawsuit unless the discovery period, ending 18 December, is lengthened. (https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/22/politics/trump-deposition-10-billion-bbc-lawsuit; https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/judge-orders-trump-to-sit-deposition-in-10bn-bbc-lawsuit-stx2zr3sx)
Trump sued the BBC in December 2025 over the 2024 Panorama documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which spliced his 6 January 2021 speech — joining “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you” with “we fight like hell” — to make it appear he urged the Capitol attack. The BBC has apologised for the edit, denies defamation and is seeking to have the case thrown out. (https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/22/politics/trump-deposition-10-billion-bbc-lawsuit; https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/judge-orders-trump-to-sit-deposition-in-10bn-bbc-lawsuit-stx2zr3sx)
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