In a high‑stakes legal battle, the BBC is seeking to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner to obtain witnesses and documents that it believes substantiate its defence in a $10 bn defamation lawsuit filed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. The reports come from court filings that show BBC legal representatives attempted in May to serve subpoena notices to the Trump family members, arguing that they possess “personal knowledge” of the president’s intentions during the speech that was edited in the 2024 Panorama program.
Trump’s suit, filed in Florida, accuses the broadcaster of “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring” a passage from a speech he delivered outside the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021. The edit presented a composite clip that misrepresented his statement as a call to violent action, an assertion the BBC has apologised for but maintained was not defamatory because the programme was not shown on any U.S. platforms.
In its latest filing, the BBC argued that Trump Jr. and Ivanka were present when the president revised the speech, and that Kushner drafted a statement that would have condemned violence. The court documents also detail the BBC’s attempts to serve subpoenas at the family’s Florida home and Trump Tower in New York, encounters that were thwarted by security and concierge staff. The BBC requested that the subpoenas be served by email or certified mail, noting that traditional hand‑delivery attempts failed.
The lawsuit has evolved beyond the initial claim. Trump recently dropped the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Studios, from the suit after the broadcaster argued it had no role in producing the documentary. However, the core case remains the same, with the BBC demanding the dismissal of the defamation claim and filing for the release of Trump’s financial records related to alleged business damages. A judge granted Trump a delay in handing over those financial documents, citing that disclosure would cause “irreparable harm” to the former president.
If the case proceeds, a trial date has been set for February 2027. Legal analysts predict the proceedings will test the boundaries of defamation law across jurisdictions and the reach of U.S. courts into UK media practices. For further details, see the BBC’s court filing release and the subsequent judge’s ruling on the financial records dispute.
