Donald Trump is trying to stop the BBC obtaining documents and testimony from three members of his family as his £10bn defamation battle with the British broadcaster takes another unexpected turn.
Trump’s lawyers have asked a federal judge to reject the BBC’s attempt to subpoena Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner, accusing the corporation of using the legal process to harass Trump and his family. The BBC wants evidence from the three as it prepares its defence against Trump’s lawsuit over the editing of his January 6 speech in a 2024 documentary. Trump claims the BBC defamed him by combining separate sections of the speech to make it look like he’d directly encouraged supporters to attack the Capitol. The BBC has apologised for the editing, acknowledging it gave a misleading impression, but strongly denies it defamed Trump.
What started as an attempt by Trump to extract billions in damages has now opened up a sprawling legal discovery process touching his finances, family and some of the people closest to him around January 6. And Trump’s fighting to restrict how far the BBC can actually go.
BBC wants to question Trump’s family
The broadcaster has sought testimony and records from Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. According to court documents reported by the Associated Press, formally serving subpoenas on all three has proved difficult given the extensive security around them, including Secret Service protection. The BBC’s asked the court for permission to serve them via certified mail and other methods instead of personal service.
Trump’s lawyers are now opposing that. In a filing reported Sunday, they accused the BBC of seeking politically motivated leverage and called the subpoenas harassment: “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 BBC argues the three could have personal knowledge relevant to Trump’s claims and its own defence. No ruling yet on the broadcaster’s latest request.
Why the BBC wants Ivanka and Kushner specifically
This goes well beyond asking Trump’s family what they thought of the documentary. The BBC is examining what Trump knew, intended and did around January 6, 2021. Ivanka Trump was inside the White House as the Capitol attack unfolded and was among those who tried persuading her father to publicly call on rioters to stop. Kushner also got involved in discussions around a statement condemning the violence. The BBC argues testimony from people that close to Trump could be relevant to establishing the context around his speech and what followed. It’s also pursued records linked to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s conduct that day, which gathered extensive evidence about what Trump knew as the violence developed and how he responded while the Capitol was under attack.
Trump brought the £10bn case himself
This widening discovery battle stems from Trump’s own lawsuit against the BBC, filed in December, centred on the 2024 documentary Trump: A Second Chance? Trump says the programme deceptively edited two separate sections of his January 6 speech together, one where he told supporters they’d walk to the Capitol, and another, delivered later, where he said they should “fight like hell.” Trump argues placing those remarks together falsely suggested he’d explicitly instructed supporters to fight at the Capitol. The documentary didn’t include his statement, from the same speech, that supporters should make their voices heard “peacefully and patriotically.”
The BBC’s apologised for the edit but rejected Trump’s demand for compensation, maintaining the mistake didn’t amount to legally actionable defamation. Trump’s seeking $10bn, roughly £7.4bn at current rates.
The BBC previously sought Trump’s financial records too
The litigation’s already produced another uncomfortable discovery dispute for Trump. Because his original claim argued the documentary damaged his financial and business interests, the BBC sought detailed records about his finances. A federal judge initially ordered Trump to start handing them over. His lawyers fought the order and later sought to narrow the lawsuit. US district judge Roy Altman temporarily paused that requirement earlier this month while considering Trump’s request to amend the case, so claims the BBC’s already obtained his financial records would be incorrect. The dispute over them remains part of the wider battle.
Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller also targeted
Trump’s children aren’t the only members of his inner circle the BBC’s sought information from. The broadcaster’s also pursued subpoenas involving people including Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, building evidence for its defence. That’s let the BBC explore evidence relating not just to how the documentary was made, but to what actually happened around Trump before, during and after the Capitol attack. Trump’s team argues the scope of these requests goes far beyond what’s necessary to decide whether the documentary defamed him. The BBC says the material’s relevant precisely because Trump himself put his reputation and the documentary’s impact at the centre of the lawsuit.
Trial currently expected next year
The case is being heard in federal court in Florida, with trial currently scheduled for February, though the timetable could shift as disputes over evidence and the scope of Trump’s claims continue. The immediate question is whether the court lets the BBC use alternative methods to serve Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner. The New Republic has framed the difficulty serving the three as Trump’s children “hiding” from subpoenas. The court documents themselves are less dramatic than that, describing difficulties caused partly by the security arrangements surrounding the family.
What’s clear from Sunday’s filing is that Trump is now actively asking the court to stop the BBC’s effort. He sued the broadcaster seeking billions in damages. The BBC’s responding by trying to question people who were inside his orbit during one of the most scrutinised days of his political career. That’s turned a fight over one controversial television edit into a considerably wider legal battle.
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