President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC just got a lot more complicated for his legal team. A federal magistrate judge ruled Tuesday that Trump must hand over financial records for more than 400 companies held through a family trust, opening his business empire to scrutiny.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett said Trump put his businesses at the center of the case by alleging reputational and economic harm. "All of President Trump’s brand, properties and businesses are impugned or said to have been impugned," Lett said. "Reputational, economic damages, all of that is now at issue in this case."

Trump's lawyers tried to avoid this by abandoning claims that the BBC documentary reduced his companies' value. Attorney Al Brito said Trump's position had "evolved" and now concerned only personal reputational damage. But BBC attorney Chuck Tobin rejected that distinction. "You cannot separate the man and his reputation from his operation of his businesses," he said.

The ruling escalates a discovery fight over the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, managed by Donald Trump Jr. Reuters reported in June that Trump's team resisted the BBC's subpoena, while the broadcaster said it needed the records to test his damage claims.

Trump filed the lawsuit in December after the BBC's "Panorama" documentary spliced together sections of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech delivered nearly an hour apart. Trump says the edit falsely suggested he directly incited the Capitol attack. The BBC apologized for the misleading edit but denied defamation.

The complaint seeks $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion under Florida's unfair-trade-practices law. The BBC has asked U.S. District Judge Roy Altman to dismiss the case, arguing that the documentary did not air in Florida and that Trump cannot prove harm. Altman has tentatively scheduled a February 2027 trial.

The BBC also wants Trump to testify under oath. Tobin said Trump's lawyers were "dragging their feet" on setting a deposition date.

The clash extends Trump's broader media litigation campaign. Paramount paid $16 million to settle his "60 Minutes" lawsuit, while Trump has also pursued a $10 billion case against The Wall Street Journal and a $15 billion claim against The New York Times.