The BBC has asked a federal judge in Florida to compel Donald Trump to testify under oath in the US president's defamation case against the British media outlet. The claim is worth $10 billion and the questioning should take place outside the courtroom.
According to a court document filed on Tuesday, lawyers for the BBC and Trump's legal team initially agreed that the testimony would be given on Friday, October 16. Representatives for the media outlet told the judge that they had been trying to agree on a place for the questioning for months.
On September 28, Trump's lawyers announced that he was "no longer available to testify on October 16 due to other matters of national importance". They promised to offer another date, but this was not done in the subsequent deadline.
Instead, the president's legal team has indicated that he could testify in the second or third week of January 2027. The BBC objects that such a date would be after the deadline for completing the discovery phase of evidence.
The case is about a BBC documentary
Trump filed the case in December 2025. It concerns the way in which a BBC documentary program edited parts of his speech from January 6, 2021. The president claims that the editing created a false and defamatory impression of his words. The BBC rejects his legal claims.
The media outlet has pledged to keep the location of the interview secret, saying it will facilitate organization and security measures. The request seeks to compel Trump's team to confirm a date for his testimony.
The federal court in Florida has not yet ruled on the request. If granted, Trump will have to appear for questioning in the civil case he filed against the BBC.
Sources: bnrnews.bg, theguardian.com