On Thursday, President Donald Trump temporarily avoided having to give the British Broadcasting Company access to his financial records as part of his $10 billion defamation lawsuit.
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Judge Roy K. Altman, who Trump appointed in 2019, approved an emergency stay filed by Trump’s attorneys on Wednesday, just a day before the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust would’ve been forced to hand the BBC tax, ownership, and financial records for approximately 400 entities.
Why is the BBC trying to obtain Trump’s financial statement?
On Dec. 15, 2025, Trump filed a lawsuit against the BBC over a 2024 episode of documentary news program “Panorama” which included portions of Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol insurrection. Trump’s lawsuit alleges that clips of his speech were edited together to show him egging his supporters to storm the Capitol and omitted parts where he encouraged peaceful demonstration.
Trump’s lawsuit seeks $5 billion in damages for defamation and $5 billion for unfair trade practices, claiming the edit hurt his “brand, properties and businesses.” U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ruled that because Trump alleges that the BBC hurt his businesses, it’s fair for the BBC to demand information about his businesses, ordering his trust to turn over relevant information.
“All of President Trump’s brand, properties and businesses are impugned or said to have been impugned. Reputational, economic damages, all of that is now at issue in this case,” Lett said during the hearing.
Trump’s lawyers have requested to amend their complaint to focus on Trump’s reputation and move away from the alleged damage to his businesses, arguing that doing so would remove the need to disclose his finances. It’s this request that Judge Altman is currently considering, pausing the release of Trump’s financial documents until a decision is made.
If Altman rules against Trump, the BBC may very well obtain Trump’s financial records, but a protective order may prevent those documents from being publicized. Seth Stern, advocacy director at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, says that Trump could also simply drop the lawsuit to prevent his financial details from being released to the public.
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