Judge Orders Trump to Testify Under Oath in $10 Billion BBC Defamation Case

By Elena Vasquez

President Donald Trump must sit for a sworn deposition by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Aytch Lett ruled Thursday. The judge also warned Trump's lawyers that the case could be dismissed if his legal team fails to produce documentation the BBC is entitled to in its defense.

The stakes are numerical and large: $10 billion in claimed damages, a two-month discovery window nearly exhausted, and a deposition deadline the judge said could shift only if the discovery period itself is extended.

"Engaging in discovery is burdensome, but is a burden we undertake, especially if we file a lawsuit," Judge Lett said at the hearing, as reported by CNN.

Why did Trump sue the BBC?

Trump filed the lawsuit in Florida in December 2025. It alleges defamation and trade practices violations over an October 2024 episode of the BBC program "Panorama." The broadcast edited Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, speech to make it appear he said: "We're going to walk down to the Capitol… and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."

The BBC subsequently apologized for the error. The broadcaster acknowledged the program gave "the mistaken impression that President Trump made a direct call for violent action."

What did the judge decide?

At Thursday's hearing, Charles Tobin, a lawyer representing the BBC, said that "we still haven't been able to depose" Trump, with two months left in the discovery period, the BBC reported.

Lett ordered the deposition to occur by Dec. 11. She allowed that the date could be pushed back if the discovery period is extended.

Trump's legal team offered a different timeline. In a filing on Wednesday, his lawyers said the president could appear for the interview between Jan. 11 and Jan. 22, 2027. They asserted the BBC was "wrong to claim that President Trump is avoiding his deposition in this action."

The gap between the two schedules is more than a year. In plain words: the BBC wants testimony now; Trump's team proposes it in early 2027.

How did Trump's team respond?

A spokesman for Trump's legal team issued a statement addressing the ruling.

"The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election," the statement said. "The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda. President Trump's powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing."

What remains of the case?

The BBC has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It argues the "Panorama" broadcast does not meet the legal criteria for defamation and that the program was not available in the U.S.

The case has already narrowed once. In July, Trump dropped his claims against BBC Studios Distribution and BBC Studios Production, the broadcaster's commercial and production arms, after the U.K. broadcaster argued those entities had "no role in creating or producing the documentary" in question.

Trump continues to pursue the litigation against the BBC at large.

The takeaway is procedural but consequential: a sitting president now faces a court-ordered sworn interview, a Dec. 11 deadline, and a dismissal warning — outcomes that will test whether the $10 billion claim survives the BBC's pending motion to dismiss.