Donald Trump and BBC Request Judge Postpone Legal Battle as President's Deposition Approaches in $10 Billion Dollar Defamation Case

On Wednesday, August 26, President Donald Trump and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) filed a joint motion requesting that a federal judge delay their $10 billion defamation lawsuit and push back the trial-ready date from February 15 to April 6, 2027.

The request comes as pretrial deadlines loom and Trump remains in line to face a formal legal deposition.

The litigious leader of the United States sued the BBC over its Panorama documentary Trump: A Second Chance? claiming it deceptively edited his January 6, 2021, speech.

The lawsuit states the documentary spliced an early portion of his speech with a line delivered an hour later ("fight like h---"), making it appear he directly incited the Capitol insurrection.

Trump’s legal team notes the BBC left out his explicit call for supporters to protest "peacefully and patriotically,” which only came after the insurrection was out of control and after pressure from his inner circle.

The lawsuit seeks $5 billion for defamation and an additional $5 billion for unfair trade practices.

The broadcaster issued an apology for the misleading edit but maintains it did not defame Trump. They have filed motions to dismiss, arguing that there is no personal jurisdiction because the program did not air in Florida.

While both parties agree on pushing back the trial timeline, the pre-trial discovery phase has been highly contentious.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett ordered the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust to hand over financial and business records to verify Trump's claims of economic harm.

BBC attorneys claim they have produced over 87,000 pages of documents, while accusing Trump's team of providing only 735 pages of mostly public materials.

The BBC is actively attempting to secure depositions and documents from Trump’s family members, including Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Legal filings reveal that the BBC is essentially turning the defamation suit into a trial over the events of January 6, arguing that Trump must definitively prove he did not foment or incite the crowd to prevail.

According to bipartisan congressional reports and official medical findings, at least seven deaths are directly connected to the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

The fatalities are classified into those who died during the immediate chaos at the Capitol and the law enforcement officers who died in the days and months following the attack.

The BBC argued in its motion to dismiss that even if they suggested Trump spurred the Capitol riot, it is “an opinion on a matter of public concern, heavily protected under defamation law.”