In December 2025, President Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC over a, “Panorama” documentary that aired before the 2024 election. The lawsuit claims the BBC 'maliciously" edited Trump's January 6 speech by splicing two clips together, though the BBC acknowledged the editing error and apologized. Legal experts say the underlying complaints are weak and the suit appears designed for publicity rather than legal merit.
The BBC is filing a motion to dismiss, citing jurisdictional issues and disputing claims of malice. This represents another massive lawsuit from Trump against media organizations for unfavorable coverage.
In early June 2026, the BBC went on the offensive in discovery, issuing 47 subpoenas to dozens of members of Trump's inner circle, the Justice Department, and other federal agencies, seeking evidence about the president's intent and state of mind before his January 6, 2021 speech. Recipients included Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Michael Flynn, turning Trump's own libel suit into a vehicle for fresh scrutiny of what he intended that day.
On July 21, 2026, discovery turned again on the plaintiff. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett ruled that Trump must hand over detailed financial records, reasoning that his own sweeping complaint, which claims “massive economic damage to his brand value” and injury to his future financial prospects, put his businesses' vitality squarely at issue and made it fair game for the BBC to demand proof. The BBC had subpoenaed the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which holds the president's business interests, after his lawyers refused to produce financial information. The suit Trump filed for publicity now obligates him to document the finances he has spent a career keeping opaque.
By August 2026 the suit had turned back on the family that brought it. The BBC told the court that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner had evaded Rule 45 subpoenas seeking their testimony about the January 6 Ellipse speech at the heart of the case. Process servers sent to the couple's Miami residence in May were physically blocked by local law enforcement and told to go through the Secret Service; when the BBC's lawyers did, Secret Service counsel Troy Epstein said the agency was neither authorised to accept service for the family nor willing to facilitate it. Attempts to serve Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower also failed, and the broadcaster asked the court for permission to serve by certified mail.
On August 22, Trump urged the court to reject the BBC's bid for records from his family. A judge ruled that his financial records are fair game in the defamation case he chose to file.
Update (October 14, 2026): Trump's deposition, agreed for October 16, was called off. His lawyers told the BBC on September 28 that he “is no longer available for his deposition on October 16 due to other matters of national importance,” and on October 9 that he “has no availability whatsoever for a deposition before discovery is set to close on December 18, 2026,” offering January instead, according to the BBC's motion asking the court to compel a date. The Guardian and Politico reported the filing.
Update (October 20, 2026): on October 16 Magistrate Judge Enjolique Aytch Lett wrote, “The Court has admonished Plaintiff for his lack of participation to no avail,” and warned that failure to comply with her discovery order “will lead to sanctions.” A hearing on the BBC's motion to compel Trump's deposition is set for October 22. In an October 19 filing, the BBC noted that Trump attended a Georgia rally and a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser on October 16, the date once set for his deposition. Trump has also asked the court to block the BBC from deposing former special counsel Jack Smith, arguing he lacks personal knowledge; Smith is not objecting, the BBC said.
Update (October 23, 2026): at an October 22 hearing in Miami, Magistrate Judge Lett ordered Trump to sit for his deposition by December 11 and warned the suit could be dismissed if he does not produce what the BBC is entitled to. “Engaging in discovery is burdensome, but is a burden we undertake, especially if we file a lawsuit,” she told his lawyers, CNN reported. On his document search she said, “I tend to agree with the defendant that it strains credulity that a thorough search has been in order to determine that all of the requests have been responded to.” She also backed the BBC's subpoena for Mar-a-Lago membership records. Trump's lawyers had offered deposition dates between January 11 and 22 and said the BBC was “wrong to claim that President Trump is avoiding his deposition in this action,” the BBC reported. The judge deferred the fight over deposing Jack Smith until the Justice Department rules on his request for approval.
Update (October 29, 2026): in a written order signed this week, Magistrate Judge Lett found that what Trump's team produced by its October 21 deadline “consisted of a mere twenty documents, all of which were previously produced by Defendant and/or retrieved from the internet in the days leading to the production date,” and noted that his lawyers admitted they had produced no privilege log, Newsweek and The Independent reported. “Given the nature of the requests, the paucity of the production, and the steps counsel undertook to ensure that all responsive documents were collected, the Court has concerns about whether an adequate search for all responsive documentation occurred,” she wrote. She ordered a privilege log by November 5 and the remaining undisputed responsive documents by November 23, warning: “Failure to comply with this order may result in sanctions, including but not limited to, dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute this case.” The BBC had argued it would “experience extreme prejudice” if Trump “continues to disregard his discovery obligations.”