A Trump-appointed judge has ruled that the president doesn’t have to fork over any financial records to the BBC amid their legal battle—for now.
Roy Altman, a federal judge in Florida, granted the president’s eleventh-hour plea on Thursday to block a court order requiring him to turn over detailed financial information about his sprawling business activities as part of his $10 billion lawsuit against the British broadcaster.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett previously ordered Trump to begin handing over information about more than 400 companies owned by the Trump family trust on Thursday.
But on Wednesday night, the president’s lawyers filed an emergency motion accusing the BBC of “demanding a shockingly broad amount of information” from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, including tax returns, ownership and governance instruments, deeds, appraisals, financial statements, licensing records, and digital asset histories of hundreds of affiliated entities.
In their plea, Trump’s lawyers asked the court to hold Lett’s order until its objections are resolved and because they want to update their damages allegations, which they argued would render the basis of Lett’s ruling “moot.”
“This is a compelling argument,” Altman wrote. “If the Plaintiff’s amendment obviates the need to compel a non-party to disclose confidential financial information, we think it’s prudent to enter a brief stay of the Order until the amendment request is resolved.”
Trump sued the BBC last year, alleging that it defamed him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” editing two parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech to make it seem as though he had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol.
Trump’s lawsuit claimed that the editing damaged the value of his brand, properties, and businesses, yet his lawyers have repeatedly objected to subpoenas seeking information about the business interests and assets held in the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.
Lett said last month that the BBC was entitled to demand more information about Trump’s empire because the president alleged damages to his business.
“All of President Trump’s brand, properties, and businesses are impugned or said to have been impugned,” she said in a hearing. “Reputational, economic damages—all of that is now at issue in this case.”
The BBC, meanwhile, argued that Trump “cannot plausibly claim that the documentary harmed his reputation” because he won the 2024 election soon after its program aired. The broadcaster previously said that Capitol rioters told courts they interpreted Trump’s speech as a “call to action.”
