BREAKING NEWS
Oct. 22, 2026, 3:53 PM UTC
The president had agreed to sit for a deposition on Oct. 16, but it was canceled for what was described as a “matter of national importance.”
A federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11, or face the possibility of having his $10 billion action dismissed.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett handed down the order after the BBC’s lawyers complained that Trump was stalling. He was supposed to sit for a deposition on Oct. 16 but canceled it for a “matter of national importance.”
BBC attorney Charles Tobin told the judge that matter turned out to be a political rally and a fundraiser. “He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition,” Tobin said.
NBC News has reached out to the BBC for comment. The White House referred a req
Trump filed suit against the British news organization last year, alleging it aired a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction” of him in a documentary that spliced together comments from his speech at the Ellipse ahead of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.