Judge Orders Trump to Submit to BBC Deposition by December 11

The BBC is seeking $10 billion in damages from Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit filed in Florida. The suit alleges that an edited clip from the 2024 Panorama episode “Trump: A Second Chance?” violated the state’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The clip stitched together sentences from a speech Trump delivered on January 6, 2021, creating the impression that he was directly inciting the Capitol insurrection. The BBC retracted the episode after a leaked internal memo in 2025 flagged the editing error.

Magistrate Enjoliqué A. Lett of the Southern District of Florida issued an order on October 22 requiring the president to sit for a deposition before December 11. Lett rejected the defense’s request that the session remain unrecorded. The judge also permitted the BBC to subpoena business records related to Mar-a-Lago, including membership fees and annual application counts. Lett warned that failure to engage in the discovery process within the remaining two-month window could result in sanctions, including dismissal of the suit.

Trump’s legal team had previously canceled a deposition scheduled for October 16, citing “other matters of national importance.” On that day, the president delivered a speech in Georgia. During a discovery hearing on October 22, BBC attorney Charles Tobin stated that the defense “have produced absolutely nothing of any substance” in response to document requests. The BBC’s strategy mirrors tactics used by the Pulitzer Prize Board in a separate defamation case filed in 2022, which sought access to Trump’s tax returns and medical records dating back to 2015.

David A. Schulz, director of the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School, described the order as significant because the president has often acted as if he is above the law. However, he noted that in a routine libel case, such orders are standard for resolving disputed facts. Clay Calvert, a law professor at the University of Florida, called the BBC’s push to depose Trump a “wise strategy.” He argued that defendants sued by Trump should force him to explain publicly why he determines these cases are worth such high amounts.

The BBC reaches a global audience of 467 million people weekly. In the United States, it is frequently cited as the most trusted news organization. The broadcaster’s legal mandate requires it to report impartially. This stands in contrast to US-based networks that have recently settled libel cases with Trump. ABC paid $16 million to settle a case regarding George Stephanopoulos’s characterization of the E. Jean Carroll verdict. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, paid a similar $16 million settlement shortly before its merger with Skydance.

Trump’s lawyers have not responded to comment requests regarding the case. They have described the misleading edit as malicious and defamatory, causing injury to his business and personal reputation. The BBC declined to speak about the case over the weekend. The deposition order marks the first time the president has been compelled to testify in a civil suit brought by a major international news organization.

The BBC’s discovery requests also include Trump’s diary and phone logs from the period surrounding the Capitol riot. If the material is sealed, making it public would likely require further judicial approval. The judge’s order allows the BBC to access records that could substantiate its claim regarding the impact of the broadcast on the president’s reputation.