Judge Orders Trump to Sit for Deposition in BBC Defamation Lawsuit by Dec. 11
MIAMI β A federal magistrate judge ruled Thursday that Donald Trump must sit for a deposition under oath by December 11 in his multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), unless the formal discovery window is officially extended.
The directive from U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett came after BBC attorneys asked the court to compel Trumpβs testimony, accusing his legal team of repeatedly stalling the discovery process. Judge Lett warned that failure to comply with court orders could result in sanctions, including the potential dismissal of the case.
Trump initially filed the lawsuit in federal court in Florida, alleging defamation over an episode of the investigative program Panorama. The complaint asserts that the broadcast selectively edited together separate portions of his speech ahead of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot to falsely suggest an explicit call for violence. While the BBC previously apologized for the edit, acknowledging it could create a misleading impression, the broadcaster maintains it did not commit defamation and has asked the court to toss the litigation entirely.
The ruling follows mounting friction over the scheduling of Trump’s testimony as discovery deadlines approach.
“Two months of discovery remaining, the BBC still has not been able to depose, and does not even have a schedule to depose, the most central figure in this case: Plaintiff himself,” BBC attorney Charles D. Tobin wrote in recent court filings.
According to the network’s legal team, Trump canceled an agreed-upon deposition date on October 16 citing “matters of national importance,” only to travel to Georgia that same day for a political campaign event followed by a Florida fundraiser. In subsequent court filings, Trump’s counsel denied attempting to evade questioning, offering alternative availability in mid-January.
The court rejected that proposed delay, ordering the questioning to occur before the discovery phase closes on December 18. Coverage of the legal development and court filings has been reported by outlets including CBS News and The Guardian.
