A federal magistrate ordered President Trump to sit for a deposition by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion suit against the BBC over a doctored Jan. 6 speech clip that forced top network resignations.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett directed the president to give sworn testimony in the defamation case after the British Broadcasting Corporation moved to compel his appearance, Fox News Digital reported.
The order sets a firm date unless the discovery deadline stretches past Dec. 18. A prior deposition set for Oct. 16 had been canceled, and BBC counsel pressed the court to lock in questioning before discovery closes.
Trump filed the $10 billion lawsuit late last year over the network’s 2024 “Panorama” documentary. His team says the program spliced his Jan. 6, 2021 remarks in a way that twisted their meaning and tried to sway the presidential race.
The documentary presented Trump saying, “We're going to walk down to the Capitol. And I'll be there with you. And we fight, we fight like hell.”
His actual words at that point in the speech were different. He told supporters they would walk to the Capitol to “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” added that the country would not be taken back with weakness, and called for strength. The “fight like hell” line for election integrity came 54 minutes later.
The network issued an apology, pulled the program from its platforms, and saw BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and Director-General Tim Davie resign. It still rejected the claim that the edit rose to defamation and declined to comment when asked about the new order.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team framed the suit as accountability for media misconduct that targeted a presidential election.
"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,"
the spokesperson said, adding that the network has a long pattern of slanted coverage in service of a leftist agenda and that the lawsuit holds it responsible the same way other major outlets have been held to account.
Court filings already show Trump winning permission to strengthen his pleadings, including a move that let him amend the complaint while limiting certain disclosures.
BBC lawyers told the court the president’s delay risked their ability to prepare a defense before the Dec. 18 discovery cutoff, the Washington Examiner noted.
Trump’s counsel pointed to “matters of national importance” and proposed sitting between Jan. 11 and Jan. 22 instead. The judge rejected that later window and kept the December deadline in place.
Just the News reported the defense team had sought an appearance only in that mid-January span, citing presidential duties, and that the court refused to push the deposition that far out with discovery nearly closed.
Separate coverage of the same order underscored the stakes if the president skips the session. Breitbart noted the Miami-based magistrate’s deadline and the risk of sanctions that could include dismissal, while quoting BBC lawyer Charles Tobin saying, “No plaintiff is above the law.”
Trump seeks at least $5 billion on each of two counts tied to the allegedly deceptive editing of the January 6 speech in the documentary.
Earlier rulings in the same case have already narrowed what the network can put before a jury. One decision barred the BBC from relitigating Jan. 6 as a full redo inside the defamation trial, keeping the focus on the broadcast edit itself rather than a political rehash.
Another procedural win allowed Trump to refine his claims after the initial filing, a step that granted leave to amend the $10 billion action and kept the case moving on his terms.
The deposition will test the network’s account of how the Panorama segment was cut and why the spliced audio reached viewers in an election year. Trump’s side has already begun turning internal BBC materials into exhibits, a track detailed when he used BBC emails as evidence in the broader Panorama fight.
BBC counsel has argued that filing the lawsuit meant accepting the ordinary burdens of civil discovery, including a plaintiff’s deposition. The magistrate’s order puts that principle into a calendar date.
For now the path is clear: Trump must appear by Dec. 11 unless the discovery window itself is extended past Dec. 18. The network that apologized, pulled the program, and lost two top executives still faces a billion-dollar claim that the edit was no innocent mistake.
Media giants that doctor a president’s words to shape an election should expect to answer for it under oath, not just with a quiet apology and a couple of resignations.