A federal judge in Miami ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by Dec. 11, 2026, in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. The judge denied Trump's request to delay the deposition, which his lawyers had sought to push back to January 2027, citing presidential duties. The order followed Trump canceling a previously agreed October deposition. The judge also rejected Trump's request to prevent the seven-hour deposition from being videotaped, though the video will only be accessible to attorneys in the case.
The lawsuit stems from a BBC "Panorama" documentary aired shortly before the 2024 presidential election. The BBC spliced together two comments Trump made nearly an hour apart during his Jan. 6, 2021, rally, creating the impression he had directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in a single continuous speech. The BBC admitted the edit was misleading and apologized, though it denies liability for defamation. A leaked internal BBC memo cited the edit as evidence of potential political bias, leading to a public relations crisis and high-level resignations at the broadcaster. Trump's legal tea
A federal judge in Miami ordered President Trump to sit for a deposition by Dec. 11, 2026, in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. This is a joke post. This is a link to a webcomic, not a factual claim. This is a satirical joke post.
SA federal judge just ordered the President of the United States to sit for a deposition — in his own lawsuit. By December 11th.
EThat's the one where he's suing the BBC for ten billion dollars.
SSame one. And this is not a normal scheduling note. His lawyers tried to push it to January. The judge said no.
EI love the detail here. Trump already canceled an October deposition. So this is the judge saying, 'You don't get to reschedule the reschedule.'
SThe AP has it. It goes back to a BBC documentary before the 2024 election. They spliced two Jan 6 rally comments together to make it sound like one continuous call to storm the Capitol.
EWhich the BBC admitted was misleading. They apologized for the edit. That part is not in dispute.
SRight. So Trump sues for defamation. Ten billion. And now the BBC is arguing he's been stalling his own case.
EThat's the part I can't get past. A sitting president files the most aggressive defamation suit in media history — and then his side tries to delay the deposition because of presidential duties.
SThe judge wasn't moved. The Guardian reports he warned Trump could face sanctions — including possible dismissal of the entire lawsuit — if he doesn't show.
EDismissal of your own ten-billion-dollar suit because you won't sit for the deposition. That's a leverage move I didn't know judges had.
SThey have it. And he's using it. The judge also denied Trump's request to block a videotaped deposition. Seven hours, on camera.
EThe video stays with the attorneys, but still — that's the thing Trump's team fought hardest on. They did not want this on tape.
SI keep thinking about what the BBC's actual defense is. Trump's team says the edit was malicious. The BBC says the edit was wrong, we admitted it, we're sorry — but this does not add up to defamation under U.S. law. The standard for a public figure is actual malice.
EAnd that is a very high bar. Trump has to show they knew the edit was false and published it anyway, with reckless disregard for the truth. The BBC is betting that an apology and a botched edit are not the same as a deliberate lie.
SBut here's the counter. There's a leaked internal BBC memo that called the edit potential evidence of political bias. That's not nothing. You apologize publicly, but privately there's a paper trail suggesting the edit might not have been an accident.
EThis is the strongest part of Trump's argument. The memo caused a whole leadership crisis at the BBC, high-level resignations. So it's not just a technical error in the edit bay. There's a suggestion someone wanted it to sound a certain way.
SNobody at the BBC comes out of this looking good. But is it defamation? Actual malice is a monstrous standard, especially when the outlet has already apologized and corrected the record.
EI think Trump's team believes the deposition itself is the point. They don't necessarily need to win the ten billion. They want BBC executives on the record, under oath, explaining how that edit happened. That's the prize.
SOkay, I'll give you that. A seven-hour deposition of BBC leadership would be extremely uncomfortable for them. But it cuts the other way too. It forces Trump to sit in a room for seven hours and answer under oath about his own statements and the Jan 6 rally.
EAnd that's exactly what his lawyers are trying to avoid. That's why they fought the videotape. That's why they wanted January. The deposition is dangerous for everyone in that room.
SThe judge ruled against every one of Trump's requests. Every single one. He's not playing the politics. He's running a court.
EAnd now the clock is ticking. December 11th. If Trump doesn't show, the judge says he'll consider dismissing the whole case.
SIf he does show, the BBC gets the discovery it wants. Either way, one side loses the thing it's been protecting.
EThe fun part is watching both sides say this ruling is a win. Axios has the BBC saying Trump is improperly delaying. Trump's team says this forces the BBC to face an actual legal fight. Both telling the truth.
SWelcome to litigation. Everyone's winning until a judge actually sets a date.
EDecember 11th. Mark it.
SMeanwhile, on the lighter side of the internet, the phrase 'breaking news' is getting the full treatment tonight. Stephanie Rodgers on Bluesky posted: 'BREAKING: Embattled news editors facing additional claims of cowardice, key jangling.'
EKey jangling. That is exactly the sound of a newsroom when the lawyers walk in.
SThe whole running joke right now is that everything is breaking news. A local cat gets an auto feeder — Kim Stramat on Bluesky says the cat is 'urgently planning a butlerian jihad.'
EThat's a deep-cut reference and I respect it. But also — the cat has a point. The auto feeder takes away the one job the cat uses to control you.
SRise of the machines, feline edition.
EAnd 'Breaking Cat News' has a webcomic up about exactly this. You have to love a cat-themed news outlet making fun of news culture while actually being a news outlet about cats.
SIt's a perfect media cycle for a Thursday night. A president gets ordered to sit for a deposition, and a cat is planning a revolution.
EThe revolution will not be televised. But it will be lightly covered by a webcomic.