A federal magistrate judge in Miami threatened to sanction President Donald Trump on Friday for failing to appear for a mandatory deposition in the $10 billion defamation lawsuit he filed against the British Broadcasting Corporation, court filings showed.
Magistrate Judge Enjolique A. Lett issued the warning after Trump's legal team repeatedly delayed the deposition, most recently by canceling an agreed-upon date of October 16. In a brief order, the judge stated: "The court has admonished plaintiff for his lack of participation to no avail. Going forward, the court expects strict compliance with its order, the failure of which will lead to sanctions." A hearing to address the dispute is scheduled for October 22.
Trump filed the lawsuit in December 2025 against the BBC, seeking $5 billion each for defamation and violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, totaling $10 billion. The case centers on a BBC "Panorama" documentary titled "Trump: A Second Chance?" that aired before the 2024 presidential election. The documentary spliced together portions of Trump's speech to supporters on January 6, 2021, omitting his call for supporters to protest "peacefully" and instead making it appear he had directly urged violence.
According to BBC lawyers, Trump's team first requested deposition dates in July and both sides eventually agreed on October 16. However, on September 28, Trump's counsel notified the BBC that "the President is no longer available for his deposition on October 16 due to other matters of national importance." The BBC later noted that instead of attending the deposition, Trump spoke at a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, on that date and then traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a Republican National Committee fundraising event. Trump's legal team subsequently stated he "has no availability whatsoever" before the discovery period closes on December 18 and proposed rescheduling to the second or third week of January 2027.
In court filings, BBC lawyers stressed the urgency of obtaining Trump's testimony. "Nearly eight months into discovery, after seven depositions of BBC witnesses, and with only two months of discovery remaining, the BBC still has not been able to depose, and does not even have a schedule to depose, the most central figure in this case: Plaintiff himself," they wrote. The trial is scheduled for February 2027.
The BBC acknowledged in 2024 that the documentary's editing was problematic, apologizing for creating the mistaken impression that Trump had made a direct call for violent action. The controversy prompted the resignation of BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC Director-General Tim Davie. The New York Times described the incident as "one of the worst crises in its 103-year history" of the BBC. However, the broadcaster has denied that the documentary defamed Trump and has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing in part that the program was not distributed in the United States.
Trump's legal team responded to the BBC's deposition motion by reiterating accusations against the broadcaster. "The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election," a spokesperson said, adding that the lawsuit holds the BBC accountable for "defamation and reckless election interference."
The BBC is also seeking to depose former Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of its defense strategy. Smith is not objecting to the subpoena, but Trump's lawyers argue his testimony would be irrelevant and based on secondhand evidence. The BBC has pointed to Smith's investigative findings that violence on January 6 was foreseeable to Trump and that he and his allies sought to use it to advance efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
