Trump Ordered to Sit for Deposition in $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit
A federal judge in Miami has ordered Donald Trump to give a deposition by December 11. A deposition is sworn testimony given outside the courtroom, where lawyers from both sides ask questions and the answers are recorded. The order was issued on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, the British public broadcaster.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett set the deadline. It holds unless the discovery period, the stage when each side gathers evidence from the other, is extended. The judge also warned that if Trump's team does not comply, the court could impose sanctions, including dismissing the case, according to Deadline.
The case centres on a Panorama documentary, the BBC's long-running current affairs series. Trump says the programme, produced by October Films, spliced together two parts of his speech given before the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and that the edit was misleading. He sued for defamation in December 2025.
Trump had been due to testify on October 16. He postponed, citing "matters of national importance" while he was campaigning in Georgia.
The dispute has spread into several areas. Trump claims the documentary was streamed on BBC iPlayer by "hundreds of individuals" in the United States using a VPN, a tool that disguises a user's location. He says that happened even though the programme is geoblocked, meaning blocked by location, in America. His lawyers have also accused the BBC of a "brazen" attempt to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election. The BBC denies that.
The broadcaster has apologised for the edit, calling it an "error of judgment", but has not offered to pay damages. Director general Tim Davie stepped down in the fallout, and Deborah Turness, who led the BBC's news division, also left her post. The BBC has said it will defend the case.
Two other steps have shaped the case in recent months. In July 2026, Trump removed BBC Studios, the corporation's commercial arm, from the lawsuit, as the BBC reported. In August, the BBC sought to subpoena members of Trump's family for documents and testimony, according to a BBC report.
For now, the timetable is the clearest thread. Trump must sit for questioning by December 11, unless the schedule changes. If he does not, the judge has said the case itself could be at risk.
