Trump ordered to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit

ByBernd Debusmann Jr White House reporter. 22 October 2026, 17: 24 BST.

Key points

• A US judge has ordered that President Donald Trump sit for a deposition in his $10bn (£7.4bn) defamation lawsuit against the BBC by 11 December.
• Trump's lawsuit – filed in Florida – accuses the BBC of "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring" the speech he offered outside the Capitol on 6 January 2021.
• The judge in the case, US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett, remarked that Trump must sit for the deposition by 11 December, unless the discovery period is extended.
• On that day, Trump attended a midterms campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia and a fundraiser at his property in Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
• Trump cancelled a previous deposition on 16 October, citing "matters of national importance" while he was campaigning in Georgia.

Notably, a US judge has ordered that President Donald Trump sit for a deposition in his $10bn (£7.4bn) defamation lawsuit against the BBC by 11 December.

Trump is suing the BBC over an episode of Panorama that edited together two different sections of a speech he offered before the riot at the US Capitol in 2021.

Charles Tobin, a lawyer representing the BBC, remarked in court that "we still haven't been able to depose the plaintiff" with two months left in the discovery period.

Meanwhile, the judge in the case, US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett, remarked that Trump must sit for the deposition by 11 December, unless the discovery period is extended.

Last week, attorneys asked that Lett compel Trump to face deposition after the previous scheduled date did not take place.

According to The BBC apologised for the error and, the broadcast provided "the mistaken impression that President Trump made a direct call for violent action".

Meanwhile, the broadcaster has since asked that the court dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the programme does not meet the legal criteria for defamation and was not available in the US.

In July, Trump's lawyers conceded that they had no evidence that the documentary was available in the US on the BBC's BritBox subscription service – as they originally asserted – or on the BBC's website, BBC select or through US broadcasters.

After the BBC argued that it had no role in creating or producing the documentary, trump ultimately agreed to drop the lawsuit against BBC Studios, its commercial arm.

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In short, trump ordered to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.