A new development has emerged in former U.S. President Donald Trump’s high-stakes $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), with the broadcaster turning to a Florida federal court to secure access to testimony and evidence from three key members of the Trump family, newly unsealed court documents confirm.
In a formal filing submitted Friday to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, BBC legal representatives argue that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr. hold direct, unique information relevant to core claims at the heart of the litigation, and are likely in possession of internal records that bear directly on Trump’s allegations against the network. The filing explains that the broadcaster has been blocked from delivering formal subpoenas to the three individuals due to their constant round-the-clock Secret Service protection and layered security detail, making traditional in-person service impossible.
The roots of the lawsuit stretch back to a 2024 BBC documentary about the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump brought the suit against the outlet last December, claiming $10 billion in compensatory damages over allegations that the network defamed him, engaged in deceptive editing, and violated unfair trade practice laws. The former president’s legal team argues that the documentary improperly spliced together two disconnected segments of a speech Trump delivered to supporters shortly before the Capitol riot, intentionally misrepresenting his remarks to falsely imply he incited the violence that unfolded. The suit further frames the editing as a deliberate attempt to skew the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. While the BBC has issued a public apology to Trump for the misleading edit, the network has rejected all claims of defamation.
BBC’s legal team notes in the latest filing that the three Trump family members have direct insight into facts that are central to Trump’s core legal argument: that any implication he incited the January 6 violence is materially false. Both Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were present in the Oval Office as Trump made final revisions to his January 6 speech, the filing points out, and Donald Trump Jr. spoke one-on-one with his father immediately after the riot broke out at the Capitol.
According to court records, the BBC previously asked Trump to accept service of the subpoenas on behalf of his daughter and son-in-law, or to direct the U.S. Secret Service to grant access for traditional subpoena delivery. Trump refused both requests, prompting the network to file its current motion asking the judge to authorize alternative delivery via email and certified mail.
The federal judge presiding over the case has given Trump’s legal team until this coming Friday to file a formal response to the BBC’s motion. In a preliminary statement, Trump’s legal team has lashed out at the broadcaster’s request, framing it as a calculated distraction tactic. “The BBC intentionally defamed President Donald J. Trump, and now the BBC is seeking to harass him, his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process,” the team said in a statement, adding that the motion is nothing more than an attempt to draw attention away from the network’s own clear liability in the case.
A trial date for the defamation suit has been provisionally scheduled for February of this year. The case already saw a recent procedural win for Trump last week, when U.S. District Judge Roy Altman granted a temporary pause on an order requiring Trump to disclose detailed financial records related to the performance of his global business empire. Altman agreed to put the disclosure order on hold while he reviews an amended complaint from Trump that narrows his claims of damage to his business interests and personal reputation. The case draws from reporting contributions from Associated Press journalists Kate Brumback, based in Atlanta, and Alanna Durkin Richer, based in Washington.