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A federal judge in Miami summoned U.S. President Donald Trump this Thursday to provide testimony for his defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster BBC before December 11, after he canceled a previous appointment this month, according to Politico.
Trump filed the lawsuit in December 2025, accusing the BBC of defamation due to the "malicious" editing of a documentary aired days before the November 5, 2024, elections, as well as violating a Florida law on deceptive trade practices, and is seeking $10 billion.
The President accuses the BBC of manipulating his January 6, 2021, speech in that documentary to suggest that he intended to walk with his supporters to the Capitol and "fight like hell" during the assault on the U.S. legislative headquarters.
Judge Enjoliqué Lett held a hearing this Thursday, in which she set the new deadline for Trump to testify for December 11 after the President's lawyers canceled the previous one, which was scheduled for October 16.
Trump's lawyers argued that he was busy that day with "matters of national importance," but the BBC's lawyers reported that the President was campaigning for the November legislative elections in Georgia and later at a fundraising event at his Florida mansion.
The deposition for which Trump is summoned is an interrogation that is part of the evidence gathering process in the case, with the trial scheduled for February 15, 2027.
Judge Lett also expressed being "dissatisfied" with the document production from Trump's defense, questioned whether they had conducted "a thorough search," and threatened to dismiss the case if they do not comply with her orders to fulfill their obligation and provide the required evidence.
Both the judge and the parties acknowledged that the deposition could be postponed again if another judge, Jeffrey Kuntz, decides to extend the case schedule, which currently sets December 18 as the deadline to finish the discovery process.
[Publicidad]