Donald Trump accuses the BBC of harassing his children in defamation battle

By OLIVIA DAY, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA Published: 23:28, 16 August 2026 | Updated: 23:28, 16 August 2026 Donald Trump has accused the BBC of harassing his family after it tried to force his children to testify in his $10billion defamation lawsuit. Lawyers for the broadcaster asked a Florida court to subpoena Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner after attempts to deliver the legal documents were reportedly blocked by the US Secret Service. The US President is in a £7.4billion legal battle with the BBC over a 2024 Panorama documentary which examined the events leading up to the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Portions of a speech given by Mr Trump before the riots were spliced together in the programme, giving the impression he had encouraged his supporters to storm the US Congress in Washington after he lost the 2020 presidential election. He actually called for peaceful protests. A spokesman for Mr Trump's legal team accused the Corporation of abusing the legal process. They said: 'The BBC intentionally defamed President Donald J. Trump, and now the BBC is seeking to harass him, his family and supporters by abusing the deposition process. The BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability.'  The BBC denied it had defamed the President. Its lawyers argue that his family 'without question have personal knowledge' of events surrounding the January 6 riots and could shed light on his intentions. The case will go to trial in February 2027. The US President is in a £7.4billion legal battle with the BBC over a 2024 Panorama documentary which examined the events leading up to the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021 Meanwhile, Mr Kushner was in Egypt on Sunday to meet Hamas leaders, alongside Sir Tony Blair. The pair, along with the director of Mr Trump's Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, are also set to meet Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem today. The visit is understood to be part of a concerted effort to salvage the peace deal struck in October to end the war in the Middle East.