Judge Orders Trump to Face BBC Deposition by Dec. 11

A federal judge in Florida ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11, or risk dismissal of the case. The order sets a deadline for a powerful litigant who canceled a scheduled deposition and asked to postpone it until after the discovery period is due to close.

BBC attorney Charles Tobin told the judge Trump had put party politics ahead of testifying. “He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition,” Tobin said. Trump canceled his Oct. 16 deposition, citing a “matter of national importance.” Tobin told the court that the matter turned out to be a political rally and fundraiser.

Who Controls the Clock

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett issued the order after BBC lawyers said Trump was delaying his deposition. Trump’s attorneys proposed postponing it until late January. Tobin objected: discovery is scheduled to close Dec. 18, so the court’s schedule, not the proposed delay, determines when the testimony must happen.

Lett ruled that lawyers could videotape the deposition, rejecting an objection from Trump attorney Alejandro Brito. She also said the date could change if the district judge overseeing the case extends the discovery deadline. Only that judge, Jeffrey Kuntz, can extend it. The court’s hierarchy is clear: Lett can order Trump to testify, but Kuntz alone can change the deadline shaping the case.

Tobin said Trump was the most important witness because he claims the BBC’s 2024 story caused billions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit’s central claim and deposition schedule now meet in a courtroom, where each side is using legal procedure to press its position.

A Lawsuit Between Powerful Institutions

Trump sued the British news organization last year, alleging it aired a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction” of him in a documentary. The program spliced together comments from his Jan. 6, 2021, speech at the Ellipse before the Capitol riot.

The BBC has acknowledged splicing the comments together but maintains Trump wasn’t defamed and suffered no damages. Trump has said the documentary aired in the days before the 2024 election. The BBC said the special was never shown in the United States. Those competing accounts frame a dispute between a president seeking $10 billion and an international news organization defending its reporting; the source article describes no community-organized response or mutual-aid effort.

A spokesman for Trump’s personal legal team called the case a “powerhouse lawsuit” and said it was holding the BBC accountable for defamation and “reckless election interference.” The BBC declined to comment. The lawsuit’s parties have lawyers, subpoenas, and a hearing before a federal judge. The order requires Trump to testify on the court’s timetable unless the judge with authority over discovery changes it.

The Business Question

The BBC subpoenaed Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club for information about whether membership applications and fees were affected by the documentary, although the special didn’t air in the United States. Brito argued the court should quash the subpoena because Trump wasn’t claiming the program affected the business.

Tobin responded that Trump’s suit says the documentary “injured President Trump in his profession, occupation and trade,” making information about the club relevant. Lett agreed that it “falls within” the type of information that should be produced. The dispute over the club’s records shows how a claim about reputational harm can widen into a demand for business information. For now, the court has set the deposition deadline: Dec. 11.