US President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath during the discovery phase of his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC, a federal judge has ruled, warning that failure to cooperate could lead to the case being dismissed.
The controversy centers on a BBC documentary that combines individual excerpts from speeches he gave before the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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The network apologized for the edits but denied there was any basis for defamation claims against Trump. Here’s what this ruling means and how the case got to this point.
What did the judge order?
President Trump has been ordered to respond to questioning by a BBC lawyer by December 11, unless the judge overseeing the case extends the period for evidence gathering. This process is currently scheduled to end on December 18th.
The ruling came after the president’s legal team sought to postpone questioning until January. Judge Anjolique Lett also rejected the lawyers’ attempts to block the recording of the trial. Access to the recordings will initially be limited to lawyers involved in the case.
Separately, she gave Trump’s team 30 days to provide relevant documents requested by the BBC.
What is an affidavit?
A deposition is a formal interview under oath, usually held outside a courtroom before a trial. The lawyer questions the witness and their answers are recorded in the transcript. This testimony can later be used in court, such as to challenge a witness whose account has been changed.
This forms part of ‘discovery’. This is the stage of civil litigation in the United States in which both sides have time to obtain relevant evidence through examination of documents, submission of written questions, and witness testimony. This process allows both sides to consider the other party’s claims and prepare their case.
Trump’s deposition is expected to take up to seven hours.
Why would Trump sue the BBC?
On December 15, 2025, President Trump filed a lawsuit against a British broadcaster in federal court in Florida over a Panorama documentary that aired just before the 2024 US presidential election.
His complaint seeks at least $5 billion for alleged defamation and another $5 billion for alleged violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. He claims the program wrongly portrayed him as directly encouraging violence at the Capitol, harming his reputation and business interests.
However, the BBC has apologized for the way the program was edited, disputed these allegations and asked for the case to be dismissed. The lawsuit also challenges the jurisdiction of Florida state court, arguing that the documentary was made in London and was never broadcast in the United States.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that viewers in Florida may have accessed the show through Britbox or by using virtual private networks (VPNs) that can disguise a user’s location. The BBC said the documentary was not available on Britbox International or its international website.
How was President Trump’s speech edited?
The documentary combines statements from separate parts of President Trump’s Jan. 6 speech into what appears to be a continuous statement: “We’ll walk to the Capitol, and I’ll be there with you…and we’ll fight. We’ll fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, we won’t have a country anymore.”
The two quotes that made up the excerpt used by the BBC were broadcast approximately 54 minutes apart. Trump’s lawyers said the program also omitted a call for his supporters to “make their voices heard in a peaceful and patriotic way.”
The BBC admitted that the edits gave the false impression that Trump had directly called for violence. The company apologized, but rejected demands for compensation and denied the legal basis for the defamation claim.
Following the controversy, the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and news director, Deborah Turness, resigned.
President Trump also suggested without evidence that artificial intelligence was used to put words into his speech.
Why was the deposition delayed?
President Trump had agreed to be questioned on October 16, but his lawyers canceled that date, citing matters of national importance.
Trump’s lawyers then proposed a date from January 11th to January 22nd next year.
At Thursday’s hearing, BBC lawyer Charles Tobin said Trump had been campaigning in Georgia instead and asked the court to force Trump to appear sooner for the deposition, arguing that waiting until January would push the investigation beyond existing evidence-gathering deadlines.
Mr. Letts supported the BBC’s complaint that Mr. Trump’s team was too slow in handing over internal documents. Speaking on behalf of the BBC, Charles Tobin told a Miami court: “We remain in a completely lopsided (situation) in terms of discovery. They have not produced any substance at all.”
What happens if President Trump doesn’t comply?
Lett warned that failure to cooperate could lead to sanctions, including the complete dismissal of the case. That would mean Trump’s own attempts to seek damages could end because he has failed in his duties as a litigant.
Discovery sanctions under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure may also include ordering a party to pay legal costs resulting from a default and preventing the presentation of certain evidence or the dismissal of parts of the case. These are potential penalties rather than sanctions that have already been imposed on President Trump.
