A federal judge has set a hard deadline for President Donald Trump to testify under oath in his $10 billion (€8.91bn) defamation lawsuit against the BBC, warning that his case could be thrown out if he does not comply.
Judge Enjolique Lett in Miami issued the order after the British broadcaster complained that Mr Trump has repeatedly refused to sit for a deposition, including by cancelling a previously agreed date of 16 October.
The court said Mr Trump must appear for a deposition by 11 December or face possible sanctions, including dismissal of his lawsuit.
Mr Trump’s suit centres on his claim that the BBC deceptively edited its documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance’ to make it appear he was inciting violence when he urged supporters to march on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, after losing the presidential election.
A crowd later stormed the US Congress in an effort to disrupt the formal certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.
The BBC has apologised for the incident, which led to the resignation of multiple senior executives, but it has argued the editing did not cause Mr Trump any real injury and has asked the court to dismiss the case.
The US president has frequently attacked the media during his two presidential terms
Mr Trump brought the lawsuit against the BBC in December 2025, seeking at least $5bn (€4.4 billion) on each of two counts.
In court, Charles Tobin, a lawyer for the BBC, said Mr Trump had offered no legitimate reason for failing to testify and noted that on 16 October he was simply campaigning, “participating in party politics”.
“No plaintiff is above the law,” Mr Tobin said.
Mr Trump’s legal team pushed back in a court filing on Wednesday, saying the president was not trying to dodge a deposition but had been tied up by “matters of national importance”.
They told the court Mr Trump would be available to give a deposition between 11 and 22 January.
Mr Trump has a long history of clashes with the press across his two presidential terms, including insults directed at reporters and efforts to block outlets that air critical coverage from the White House.
Most recently, the Trump administration has entered a legal dispute with CNN, MSNOW and Politico over attempts to bar them from the White House.
