US President Donald Trump has accused the BBC of harassing members of his family after the broadcaster sought to compel his children and son-in-law to testify in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the corporation.
Lawyers representing the BBC have asked a Florida court for permission to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, after reportedly encountering difficulties serving them with legal documents because of their Secret Service protection.
Trump is suing the BBC over a 2024 Panorama documentary that examined the events surrounding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The lawsuit centres on the editing of a speech Trump delivered before the riot. The programme combined remarks from different parts of his address in a way that appeared to suggest he had directly urged his supporters to storm the US Capitol following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
The BBC later acknowledged that the editing created a misleading impression of Trump’s remarks, although the corporation has denied defaming the president.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of abusing the legal process by seeking testimony from members of his family.
“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 is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability,” the spokesperson said.
The BBC’s lawyers, however, maintain that Trump’s family members have relevant information about the events surrounding January 6 and argue that they “without question have personal knowledge” that could shed light on the president’s intentions at the time.
The case is expected to proceed to trial in February 2027.