Judge orders Trump to sit for seven-hour deposition despite lawyers claiming he was 'too important'

The President-elect's legal team argued that he would be 'extremely busy handling matters of very significant public importance'

(Getty Images)

Donald Trump will have to give up to seven-hours of evidence in a lawsuit he filed against celebrity chef José Andrés before he takes presidential office, a judge has ruled.

Attorneys for the US President-elect attempted to argue he was too important to be subjected to a normal amount of questioning. But Judge Jennifer A. Di Toro refused to make a dispensation for the future head of state at the Superior Court in Washington DC.

He will now be required to sit through the same length deposition as anybody else, in New York's Trump Tower in early January.

Mr Trump's witness statement is required as part of an ongoing contractual dispute with Mr Andrés.

He is attempting to sue the restaurateur for breach of contract, after Mr Andrés backed out of a plan to open a restaurant in Mr Trump's new luxury hotel in Washington. The chef claims he cancelled the project because of comments Mr Trump made about Mexicans during the presidential campaign.

Mr Trump's attorneys had previously agreed to the deposition, but sought to limit the length and scope of questioning, arguing in court filings: “Mr Trump is not just any apex deponent; he is the President-elect ... It is not an overstatement that he is extremely busy handling matters of very significant public importance.”

Judge Ms Di Toro said limiting Mr Trump's examination would limit the defence team's ability to prepare their case for trial, because “Mr Trump's own statements are at the heart [of the case]".

Mr Andrés has previously suggested the parties bring their lawsuit to an end and instead donate money to a veterans organisation.

Mr Trump and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions over the past three decades.

A group of lawyers in the US recently decided not publish a report on the President-elects strategic use of litigation, which they described as "baseless", because they were afraid he would launch baseless litigation against them.