President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC is in danger of being thrown out over what his own lawyers have failed to hand over.
A federal magistrate judge in Miami warned Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, that the defamation case could be dismissed if Trump does not work harder to produce the material the broadcaster is entitled to, and she ordered him to sit for a deposition by Dec. 11. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Aytch Lett and both sides said that date would likely be pushed back. She also backed a BBC subpoena for membership records at Mar-a-Lago.
“Engaging in discovery is burdensome, but is a burden we undertake, especially if we file a lawsuit,” Lett told Trump’s personal attorneys. Falling short, she said, could bring sanctions up to dismissal of the suit for failing to prosecute the case. She told Trump’s team this was their last chance to take part in the process.
The judge said she doubted anyone on Trump’s side had searched thoroughly for internal documents, and she gave his team 30 days to turn over what the BBC has requested. What has arrived so far was largely pulled from the internet or supplied by the broadcaster itself. Charles Tobin, the BBC’s lead attorney, told the court the exchange had been entirely one-sided and that Trump’s side had produced nothing of substance.
Campaigning in Georgia That Same Day
Trump’s side had agreed to be deposed on Oct. 16. On Sept. 28, his lawyers told the BBC that the president was no longer available that day because of other matters of national importance.
In a court filing, Trump listed those matters as the conflict in Iran, unrest elsewhere in the Middle East, the war between Russia and Ukraine and the White House accord on super intelligence. The BBC pointed out what he did on Oct. 16 instead: a campaign rally in Dalton, Ga., and a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. Tobin told the court Trump’s team had passed along “fake news.”
Alejandro Brito, Trump’s Florida-based attorney, said the president is involved in a range of things each day that the BBC’s lawyers know nothing about. Brito also fought the Mar-a-Lago subpoena, arguing that Trump’s occupation is president of the United States and has nothing to do with the club. Lett allowed the subpoena anyway.
The Deposition Will Be Recorded
Trump’s lawyers asked the court to bar video of the questioning. Lett refused. The seven-hour deposition will be videotaped, with the recording accessible only to attorneys in the case.
That request came in a filing Wednesday, Oct. 21, in which his lawyers wrote that the president is not avoiding his deposition and proposed a window of Jan. 11-22, 2027. Early in October, they told the BBC he had no availability at all before discovery closes Dec. 18, and offered January 2027 only if the broadcaster agreed to extend the schedule.
Lett’s patience had already shown strain. In a court order issued Friday, Oct. 16, she wrote that she had admonished Trump over his lack of participation to no avail and that further failures would lead to sanctions, and she noted the BBC had filed five motions on its own because of his disregard of the rules governing joint filings. She had also ordered him to produce undisputed records by Oct. 21. In a September filing, the BBC said Trump had turned over a single document, on July 14, and had not signed his written answers under oath.
Two Clips Spliced Into One
Trump sued in Miami federal court in December 2025 over a BBC “Panorama” documentary that joined a passage of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech in which he told supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” with a later line in which he said “we fight like hell.” The film aired a week before the 2024 presidential election. He seeks $5 billion for defamation and $5 billion under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, arguing he was personally damaged even though the broadcast was not readily available to view in Florida.
Samir Shah, the BBC’s chairman, apologized for the edit in November 2025, acknowledging it gave the impression of a direct call for violent action. Tim Davie resigned as director-general and Deborah Turness resigned as chief executive of BBC News over the episode.
The broadcaster has since issued at least 47 subpoenas to current and former government officials and private advisers in Trump’s circle, among them Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., former Attorney General Bill Barr and former White House counsel Pat Cipollone. On Oct. 9, Lett ruled the BBC could serve the first three by certified mail and by email to Trump’s lawyers after Secret Service protection blocked in-person service. The two sides are also fighting over former special counsel Jack Smith, whose testimony Trump’s lawyers call duplicative and the BBC calls key.
Discovery closes Dec. 18. Lett said she is bound by that schedule, but U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz can extend it. Tobin said the BBC would accept a later deposition if Kuntz adjusts the schedule.
“The lesson for the day is that no plaintiff is above the law, and no plaintiff is above the orders of the court,” Tobin said.