Trump requests court to protect family records from BBC defamation case
President Donald Trump filed a motion to prevent teh BBC from subpoenaing his family members as part of its legal defense against a defamation lawsuit. The BBC, which initially sought to serve subpoenas on Trump’s children and son-in-law, argued that the family members may have relevant records and are protected by Secret Service agents. Trump’s legal team responded by calling the BBC’s actions a politicized discovery campaign and asked the court to dismiss their motion. The lawsuit, filed in December 2025, alleges that the BBC edited Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech in a misleading manner, causing reputational harm, and seeks $10 billion in damages. Trump also successfully prevented the BBC from accessing his financial records during the case. the proceedings are ongoing in the Southern District of Florida, now overseen by District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz.
President Donald Trump filed a motion on Friday to bar the BBC from subpoenaing his family members as part of the U.K. media company’s legal defense against Trump’s defamation lawsuit.
In response to a motion from the BBC that asked the Florida federal court to allow subpoenas of Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner, the president’s legal team called the media company’s move “the latest, cynical move in the BBC’s sweeping, politically-charged
discovery campaign.” Trump’s legal team asked the court on Friday to toss BBC’s motion as the case proceeds.
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BBC initially filed the motion on Aug. 14, arguing lawyers for the media company have not been able to serve subpoenas on the three Trump family members as they are protected by U.S. Secret Service agents. BBC has argued the family members “have personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records relevant to multiple elements of Plaintiff’s claims against the BBC.”
“The BBC has endeavored to resolve this issue without seeking the Court’s assistance,” BBC’s lawyers wrote in the August court filing, saying they also attempted, without success, to ask the Secret Service agents to accept the subpoenas on behalf of the family members.
Trump initially filed the lawsuit against the BBC in December 2025, alleging the media company edited the Jan. 6, 2021 speech at the Ellipse in a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious” way as part of a documentary that aired a week before the 2024 presidential election. Trump claimed $10 billion in damages from the edits in the case.
BBC initially sought access to Trump’s personal financial records to support its defense, which could have made those records public in court documents. But this effort was blocked when Trump filed an appeal to stay discovery proceedings, and Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Roy Altmana allowed the president to file an amended complaint to shift his reasoning from personal financial damages to reputational damages.
In their Friday filing, Trump’s lawyers argue BBC’s “politically-charged discovery campaign … has already been rejected by this Court.”
TRUMP TURNS THE TABLES AND PREVENTS THE BBC FROM SEEING HIS FINANCES IN $10 BILLION LAWSUIT
“The BBC seeks a sweeping order authorizing service of document and deposition subpoenas on three members of President Trump’s immediate family. Yet, the BBC has not placed any of those subpoenas before the Court,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the filing.
The Southern District of Florida case was transferred to District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz, also a Trump appointee, on Aug. 17.
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