Trump Ordered to Face BBC Lawyers in $10B Libel Showdown by December
MIAMI — A federal judge has ordered US President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by 11 December in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, warning that failure to comply could result in the outright dismissal of the case.
The legal battle stems from a 2024 Panorama documentary detailing the US Capitol riots. President Trump claims the broadcast severely damaged his brand value by falsely portraying him as a “violent insurrectionist”.
The corporate broadcaster filed an emergency motion after the President abruptly cancelled a previously agreed-upon October deposition, citing “matters of national importance”.
Lawyers for the network accused the President of attempting to stall the legal proceedings until January of next year.
During a tense hearing in Miami on Thursday, US Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett firmly rejected further delays. Judge Lett established the December deadline to align with the court’s strict 18 December discovery cutoff, noting that missing the window would jeopardize the entire lawsuit.
While the BBC has previously apologized for splicing certain quotes during the program’s editing process—a scandal that triggered the resignations of both the Director-General and its top news executive—the corporation continues to strongly deny the defamation allegations.
(SKY NEWS)
