Judge orders Trump deposition by December 11 in BBC lawsuit

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by December 11 in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC, warning that failure to comply could lead to sanctions, including dismissal of the case. The order, issued Thursday in federal court in Miami, sets a deadline one week before the current December 18 end of discovery, the evidence-gathering stage of litigation. The dismissal risk could change if the court extends that period. Lett said only the judge overseeing the case can alter the broader schedule. Trump’s lawyers said in a Wednesday filing that he was available for questioning from January 11 to 22, 2027, after the court’s deadline. They argued that he had been constrained by matters of national importance and denied that he was trying to avoid a deposition. The judge’s order requires the deposition by December 11 unless the schedule changes. The dispute follows the cancellation of a deposition agreed for October 16. BBC lawyer Charles Tobin told the court Trump was campaigning in Georgia that day. Trump’s lawyers had cited national matters as the reason he could not attend. The competing accounts do not establish the reason...