Judge Orders Trump to Disclose Business Finances in $10bn BBC Lawsuit

Donald Trump must disclose detailed financial information from his many businesses as part of his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC, a federal judge ruled during a discovery hearing on Tuesday.

The ruling by US magistrate judge Enjoliqué Lett could open a rare window into the hundreds of businesses owned by the Trump family trust. It also illustrates a risk in the president's strategy of pursuing critical media organisations with multibillion-dollar lawsuits: litigation runs in both directions, and discovery is not a one-way instrument.

Trump filed the suit late last year seeking $10bn in damages over a 2024 documentary, "Trump, A Second Chance", which features a scene from the speech he gave before his supporters attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. The scene splices lines together in a way that makes it appear Trump directly urged his supporters to attack. The BBC apologised to Trump last year for the misleading edit, but has argued that his defamation claims have no merit.

Lett is also allowing the BBC to subpoena dozens of members of Trump's inner circle, according to Bloomberg News, in an effort to establish evidence of the president's thoughts and intentions on 6 January. Those subpoenas are expected to target family members and senior advisers, including Donald Trump Jr, Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller.

Trump's lawyers are attempting to head off the release of his financial records by narrowing the case. Alejandro Brito, a lawyer for the president, told Lett on Tuesday that he intends to amend the current complaint, according to Politico. The amended version would allege that the documentary caused reputational damage only, rather than harming his businesses, which would in his lawyers' view make the financial disclosures unnecessary.

For now, however, the BBC can proceed with its requests for the records. The broadcaster's argument is straightforward: it aims to show that Trump's wealth rose sharply after the documentary aired, which would contradict the claim that the programme undermined his business interests.

That framing puts the plaintiff in an awkward position. Establishing large damages requires demonstrating commercial harm, and demonstrating commercial harm requires opening the books. Abandoning the financial claim protects the records but caps the potential award and weakens the case for the $10bn figure that gave the suit its public weight.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reported from the Guardian.