Trump Spokesperson Accuses BBC of 'Seeking to Harass Him, His Family, and Supporters' in Lawsuit

A spokesperson for President Trump has accused the BBC of 'seeking to harass him, his family, and supporters' after the broadcaster asked a Florida court to authorise subpoenas seeking documents and testimony from Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in the president's $10 billion (£7.5 billion) defamation lawsuit.

The latest court filing, released on Friday, marks a fresh escalation in the legal battle over a Panorama documentary that spliced together separate portions of the president's 6 January 2021 speech.

BBC Seeks Testimony From Trump Family Members

The news came after the BBC's legal team applied to the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida for permission to serve third-party subpoenas on the president's son, daughter and son-in-law.

The BBC argues that the three have 'personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records relevant to multiple elements' of Trump's claims against the broadcaster.

Trump filed his lawsuit in December 2025, accusing the BBC of defamation and violations of Florida's trade practices law over a 2024 Panorama episode titled Trump: A Second Chance?

The programme spliced together remarks the president made nearly an hour apart during his address on 6 January, creating the impression that separate portions of his speech were one continuous statement leading up to his call for supporters to 'fight like hell'.

In previous court filings, Trump's attorneys have argued the BBC misleadingly edited his remarks, including by omitting his call for supporters to march 'peacefully and patriotically' to the Capitol.

The BBC publicly apologised in November 2025, acknowledging that the edit gave 'the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action', but said the editing was unintentional and maintained that there was no legal basis for a defamation claim.

The latest filing reveals the BBC attempted to serve subpoenas in May but was unsuccessful on several occasions. Representatives tried to deliver documents to Ivanka Trump and Kushner at their Florida home but were turned away at a police checkpoint, while the Secret Service later said it was not authorised to accept subpoenas on the couple's behalf.

Separate attempts to serve Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower in New York were also unsuccessful, according to the filing, with process servers encountering difficulties gaining access to the relevant offices.

Now the broadcaster is asking the court to allow service by email and certified mail, arguing the family members could be material witnesses with information relevant to Trump's conduct, intentions and claims of reputational damage surrounding 6 January.

Congressional documents cited in the filing indicate Ivanka Trump was with her father as he worked on his speech that day, while Donald Trump Jr. was involved in discussions as events unfolded at the Capitol. Kushner, meanwhile, was involved in drafting a statement responding to the violence, according to the BBC's filing.

Trump Legal Team Fires Back

A spokesman for Trump's legal team, in a statement shared Monday with CBS News, accused the BBC of 'seeking to harass him, President Trump, his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process'.

The statement added: 'The BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability.' Trump's attorney Alejandro Brito did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment from CBS News.

The BBC's press office also declined to comment to CBS News on Monday. CBS News and the BBC have a longstanding international news-sharing relationship.

The case has seen a series of procedural twists in recent months. Trump has faced requests to disclose financial information as part of the discovery process, but the scope of those demands has shifted as his lawyers have sought to narrow the claims primarily towards personal reputational harm.

A federal judge recently gave Trump temporary relief from providing some financial information while an amended complaint is considered.

The court has given Trump's lawyers until Friday to respond to the latest subpoena request. The judge has not yet ruled on whether the BBC may use the proposed alternative methods to serve Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Kushner.

If the request is granted and the subpoenas withstand any subsequent challenges, the BBC could gain access to testimony and records from three people it argues have firsthand knowledge relevant to Trump's claims.

With a trial tentatively scheduled for February 2027, the discovery dispute adds another potentially significant front to a case already attracting scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.