A new development in the legal battle between President Donald Trump and the BBC is putting members of Trump’s immediate family at the center of the dispute.
The BBC has asked a federal court for permission to subpoena Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, seeking testimony and potentially relevant documents connected to Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech. The broadcaster says the three individuals may have firsthand knowledge that could help it defend itself against Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit.
The unusual part of the dispute is not simply who the BBC wants to question. According to the broadcaster’s court filing, attempts to personally serve the subpoenas have been unsuccessful because Trump’s family members are protected by the U.S. Secret Service as members of the sitting president’s immediate family. The BBC says it was directed to coordinate service through the Secret Service, but the agency later indicated that it could not accept subpoenas on behalf of the individuals.
The BBC is now asking the court to permit alternative methods of service.
BBC Seeks Trump Family Testimony in Defamation Case
At the heart of the controversy is a 2024 BBC documentary about Donald Trump and the events surrounding January 6, 2021.
Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC in December 2025, arguing that the broadcaster deceptively edited portions of his January 6 speech. According to Trump’s lawsuit, the documentary’s editing made it appear that he directly encouraged his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol.
The BBC has acknowledged that the editing was an error and apologized for the way the speech was presented. However, the broadcaster continues to dispute Trump’s claim that the editing amounted to defamation and is fighting the lawsuit in federal court.
That distinction is important.
The legal battle is not simply about whether the BBC edited Trump’s speech. The larger question is whether the editing materially changed the meaning of Trump’s words in a way that caused legally actionable harm.
The BBC believes testimony from people who were close to Trump at the time could help establish the context surrounding the speech.
That is where Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner enter the picture.
According to the BBC’s court filing, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were present as Trump worked on and revised his January 6 speech. The broadcaster also says the two were present at the Ellipse while Trump delivered the speech. Kushner, meanwhile, could have information about events that followed the attack, including an effort to prepare a statement condemning violence.
The BBC argues that this information could be relevant to questions about Trump’s intentions, the circumstances surrounding his remarks and how his message could reasonably have been understood by its audience.
In other words, the broadcaster is trying to establish the broader story surrounding the speech rather than relying exclusively on the edited documentary footage.
Why the BBC Says Ivanka Trump, Don Jr. and Jared Kushner Matter
The BBC’s request is based on the idea that witnesses close to Trump could possess firsthand information about what happened before, during and after the January 6 speech.
That could be significant in a defamation case.
When a dispute involves the alleged meaning of a public statement, evidence concerning the circumstances in which the statement was made can become important. The BBC therefore wants access to people who were reportedly close to Trump while the speech was being prepared and delivered.
The broadcaster says Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were present while their father was revising the speech. Their potential testimony could therefore address what Trump was saying, discussing or attempting to communicate before he went before the crowd.
Jared Kushner could provide a different piece of the picture.
The BBC says Kushner was involved in efforts to prepare a statement from Trump condemning violence at the Capitol. That could give the broadcaster additional evidence concerning what was happening inside Trump’s circle as the situation developed.
The BBC is also seeking documents, not merely testimony.
That means the subpoenas could potentially provide the broadcaster with communications, records or other material that lawyers believe could shed light on the events surrounding January 6.
It is important to emphasize that a subpoena request does not mean that the court has determined the witnesses must testify. The BBC first needs the court to approve its requested method of serving the subpoenas.
The Trump family members have not, based on the latest reports, been ordered to testify as a result of this particular filing.
The Secret Service Becomes an Unexpected Part of the Dispute
The most unusual aspect of the story involves the Secret Service.
The BBC says its process servers attempted to personally serve Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at their Florida residence. According to the court filing, law enforcement officers prevented the process server from completing the service and directed the BBC to coordinate with the Secret Service instead.
The broadcaster says it subsequently contacted the Secret Service.
According to the BBC’s filing, however, the agency said it was not authorized to accept service of the subpoenas for Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. or Jared Kushner.
The BBC also says its attempts to arrange another method of service through Trump’s legal team were unsuccessful.
That has created a procedural problem for the broadcaster.
The BBC wants the witnesses’ evidence, but it first has to legally serve them with subpoenas. Because the individuals receive Secret Service protection, ordinary attempts at personal service have apparently proved difficult.
The broadcaster is therefore asking the federal court to allow alternative service, potentially through methods such as certified mail or another authorized third-party procedure.
Trump’s legal team is opposing the BBC’s request, according to the broadcaster’s filing.
The dispute over service illustrates how complicated the lawsuit has become. What began as a fight over a television documentary and the editing of a presidential speech has now expanded into a legal battle involving evidence, subpoenas, presidential family members and the mechanics of serving protected individuals.
What Happens Next in the Trump-BBC Lawsuit?
The immediate question is whether the court will allow the BBC to use an alternative method to serve the subpoenas.
If the judge grants the request, the BBC could move forward with efforts to obtain testimony and documents from Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner.
That does not necessarily mean the three will eventually appear in court and testify publicly. There can be additional legal disputes over the scope of subpoenas, the relevance of requested documents and whether particular questions or materials are protected from disclosure.
Nevertheless, the BBC’s latest filing could become an important development in the broader defamation case.
The lawsuit itself remains focused on Trump’s allegation that the BBC’s editing of his January 6 speech falsely portrayed him as encouraging the attack on the Capitol. The BBC has admitted that the editing was problematic, but it disputes Trump’s contention that the edit legally constitutes defamation.
The case has already generated other disputes over evidence.
A federal judge recently granted Trump’s request to prevent the BBC from accessing certain financial records after Trump’s lawyers said the lawsuit would be narrowed toward reputational damages rather than alleged business losses.
Trump has also alleged that artificial intelligence was involved in altering his speech, a claim the BBC has denied.
All of this means that the courtroom battle is likely to remain closely watched.
For the BBC, testimony from people inside Trump’s circle could potentially help it argue that the documentary should be evaluated in the broader context of Trump’s January 6 remarks and the events surrounding them.
For Trump, the lawsuit represents an attempt to hold the broadcaster accountable for what he says was a seriously misleading presentation of his words.
For the public, the case raises a larger question about the responsibility of major news organizations when editing politically significant footage—and about where the line should be drawn between an editorial mistake and legally actionable defamation.
At this stage, the BBC is seeking permission to serve subpoenas; the court has not ruled that Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. or Jared Kushner must testify.
The next decision by the court could determine whether the BBC gets the opportunity to pursue that evidence directly.
As the case develops, the January 6 speech that sparked the controversy remains at the center of the dispute. What Trump intended to communicate, how his words were presented to viewers and whether the BBC’s editing crossed the legal threshold for defamation are questions that could ultimately shape the outcome of one of the most closely watched media lawsuits involving a sitting U.S. president.
What do you think about the BBC’s attempt to subpoena Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner? Should the court allow the broadcaster to question them under oath? Share your thoughts in the comments.
This article is based on reporting available as of August 15, 2026. The allegations and legal positions described above remain disputed, and the court has not made a final determination on the merits of Trump’s defamation claims.
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BBC seeks to subpoena Trump children and son-in-law over defamation lawsuit | BBC | The Guardian