The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has formally requested that a judge compel US President Donald Trump to schedule a date for his sworn testimony in a high-stakes €8.6 billion ($10 billion) defamation lawsuit. According to recent court filings, the broadcaster is seeking judicial intervention as the discovery period for the case nears its end.
Legal counsel for the BBC stated that while the discovery phase has been active for nearly eight months, the network has successfully deposed seven witnesses but has yet to secure a date to depose the plaintiff himself. With only two months of discovery remaining, the BBC's lawyers emphasized that the president remains the most central figure in the litigation. The network has requested that a federal court in Florida issue an order for the deposition and address the matter during a hearing scheduled for 22 October.
The underlying lawsuit was filed by Donald Trump in December 2025. In the 33-page filing, the president accused the BBC of defamation, as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices, specifically targeting the documentary “Trump: A Second Chance.” The lawsuit characterizes the production as a “brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election and describes the content as a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump.”
The legal dispute centers on the BBC's editing of a speech delivered by Trump on 6 January 2021, which suggested he had encouraged violence at the US Capitol. While the broadcaster issued an apology and saw two senior executives resign in the wake of the controversy, it has consistently denied the allegations of defamation. In response to the latest filing, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team did not provide specific reasons for the delay in scheduling the deposition. Instead, the spokesperson reiterated allegations against the BBC, stating the president is holding the broadcaster “accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.”
This case is part of a broader pattern of legal action taken by the president against various media organizations. Earlier this year, in April, a US federal judge dismissed a separate $10 billion defamation lawsuit initiated by the president against The Wall Street Journal.
