President Trump is moving to quash the BBC's attempts to compel testimony from his immediate family members in his $10 million defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster. In court filings submitted Saturday, his attorneys described the network's subpoena efforts as "cynical" and part of a "sweeping, politically-charged discovery campaign that has already been rejected by this Court."
The filings specifically target the BBC's bid to depose Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner, arguing that the requests are designed to exert "politically-driven leverage over the President's family, not tailored discovery." The legal team contends the broadcaster is using the lawsuit as a vehicle to harass the president's relatives rather than obtain evidence relevant to the case.
The BBC, which filed its motion last week, maintains that Trump's children "have personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records" pertinent to the litigation. The network also claimed that earlier attempts to serve subpoenas were frustrated.
Trump's lawyers acknowledged that the BBC tried and failed to deliver subpoenas to the three family members. They detailed an incident in May when process servers attempted to serve Ivanka Trump and Kushner at their residence, only to be turned away by the Secret Service. However, the filing asserts that the agents did not state they "would obstruct proper service" — they simply said they could not accept the documents on behalf of the couple.
In the same month, the BBC's process servers reportedly visited Trump Tower, telling building staff they had "legal documents for the Trump organization" without specifying that the papers were intended for Donald Trump Jr. The omission, Trump's lawyers argue, was deliberate and misleading.
The BBC has not yet commented on the latest filings. The network previously apologized to Trump over the editing of a clip in a documentary about the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which Trump claims was manipulated to make it appear he was endorsing violence. Despite the apology, the BBC denies that its actions constituted defamation.
Trump filed the lawsuit in 2025, alleging that the BBC's splicing of footage in the documentary distorted his remarks and falsely portrayed him as calling for violent action ahead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The case has drawn significant attention as it pits a sitting president against one of the world's most prominent public broadcasters.
Legal analysts note that the dispute over subpoenas is a common pre-trial maneuver, but the involvement of the president's family elevates its political stakes. The outcome could set a precedent for how courts balance discovery requests against claims of executive privilege or family privacy.
The court has not yet ruled on Trump's motion to block the subpoenas. A hearing is expected in the coming weeks, and the decision could shape the trajectory of the broader defamation case.
