President Donald Trump is asking a US federal court to push back his deposition in the $10 billion defamation lawsuit he filed against the BBC, telling the broadcaster’s lawyers he is unavailable for about two months because of “other matters of national importance.” The delay would move the sworn testimony beyond the December 18 deadline for the end of discovery — prompting the BBC to ask a federal judge to step in and compel Mr Trump to commit to a firm date.
BBC seeks a court order
The broadcaster’s lawyers filed a motion on Tuesday after a deposition agreed in July for October 16 was scrapped late last month, according to court filings described in reports. Mr Trump’s attorneys then floated the second or third week of January as an alternative, and told the BBC he had no availability at all before the discovery period closes on December 18.
“The President is no longer available for his deposition on October 16 due to other matters of national importance,” his lawyers wrote, according to the BBC’s account. The broadcaster is asking US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett to take up the dispute at a hearing next week. Its lawyers note that after nearly eight months of discovery — and seven of their own witnesses deposed — they still have no timetable to question the plaintiff, the most central figure in the case. The first detailed account of the dispute was based on the court filings.
The scheduling row adds to a run of legal and political turbulence around the White House, with the midterm elections now weeks away and the administration’s record under scrutiny.
Why the lawsuit matters
Mr Trump filed the suit last December, accusing the British broadcaster of defaming him by splicing together two separate sections of his January 6, 2021, speech in a documentary aired the day before the 2024 presidential election — editing that, he says, made it appear he had urged supporters to attack the US Capitol. The BBC has apologised for the edit, which led to the resignations of senior executives, but denies it caused the president any real injury and has moved to have the case dismissed outright. A trial is currently scheduled for February 2027.
The irony has not gone unnoticed: it is the president’s own lawsuit, and his deposition is the one the BBC says it cannot schedule. Whether the judge forces a date before the discovery deadline expires may decide how much testimony the defence gets from the man at the centre of the case. Analysts say the standoff also tests a broader principle — that a plaintiff who chooses to sue cannot then keep the other side waiting indefinitely.
