Trump team seeks to push back BBC deposition until January 2027

President Trump’s legal team is seeking to push back testimony by the commander in chief in his lawsuit against the BBC until early next year.

In a filing lawyers for the BBC made in court this week, the outlet’s legal team said it had attempted several times this summer to agree on a date for deposition with Trump’s lawyers.

After the two sides initially agreed to have the president give testimony this month, the BBC wrote, Trump’s team later notified them “the President is no longer available for his deposition on October 16 due to other matters of national importance” and that counsel would “endeavor to provide you with a replacement date by the end of this week,” but a replacement date has not been given.

Last month, Trump’s attorneys notified the BBC legal team that the “Plaintiff would make himself available for a deposition in the second or third week of January 2027” but did not provide any specific date, according to the filing .

Trump is suing the BBC for defamation in connection with a documentary it aired about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his comments before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

The president’s lawyers argue the BBC deceptively edited footage of Trump’s speech to omit him telling a crowd gathered in Washington, D.C., that day to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol.

The BBC apologized for the edit and ousted a number of editorial leaders in the wake of the lawsuit.

But the outlet has sought to challenge the president’s defamation claim, asking the court earlier this year to allow it to issue subpoenas to Trump family members and examine financial records as part of its legal defense.