A US magistrate judge has ruled that Donald Trump must hand over detailed financial records from his numerous businesses as part of his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC. The decision, made during a discovery hearing on Tuesday, could expose previously private information about the hundreds of companies held by Trump's family trust, and underscores a risk in his broader strategy of using large defamation suits against media organisations.

The lawsuit concerns a 2024 documentary, "Trump, A Second Chance," which edited together separate lines from a speech Trump gave before the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot in a way that made it appear he directly incited the attack; the BBC has since apologised for the misleading edit but disputes the defamation claim's merit. Judge Enjoliqué Lett has also permitted the BBC to subpoena figures in Trump's inner circle, including Donald Trump Jr, Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, to probe his intentions that day. Trump's lawyers, who are expected to appeal, are separately seeking to narrow the complaint to reputational damage only, which would avoid the need for financial disclosure, but for now the BBC can pursue records it says will show Trump's wealth has grown since the documentary aired.