Trump-BBC Defamation Case Gets New Judge

A federal judge recently nominated to the bench by US President Donald Trump has taken over his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC.

Jeffrey Kuntz was nominated by Trump in April to serve on the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate last month in a 51-46 vote.

Kuntz replaces Judge Roy Altman, who had been overseeing Trump's lawsuit against the British broadcaster. Altman was also nominated to the federal bench by Trump, in 2019.

The case centres on the BBC's editing of a speech Trump delivered near the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, before a mob of his supporters stormed the building.

Trump alleges that the BBC's Panorama programme misleadingly edited together separate portions of his speech, creating a false impression about what he said and potentially damaging his reputation.

The lawsuit is among 17 cases transferred to Kuntz after he joined the federal district court in July.

When Trump announced Kuntz's nomination on his Truth Social platform in April, he praised the judge's record on Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, describing him as "TOUGH and SMART" and saying he had achieved strong results for the state.

Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is currently scheduled to go to trial in February 2027. The president has requested that the case be heard before a jury.

The BBC has previously apologised for combining two separate sections of Trump's January 6 speech in its Panorama report.

However, the broadcaster has sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the programme did not satisfy the legal requirements for a defamation claim. The BBC has also disputed whether a Florida court has jurisdiction over it, noting that the programme was not available in the state.

Kuntz has previously been involved in another defamation-related legal dispute involving Trump.

On February 12, 2025, Kuntz was one of three Florida appeals judges who ruled in Trump's favour in a case involving the Pulitzer Prize Board. The decision allowed Trump to continue his lawsuit against the board after it awarded its journalism prizes to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

That case remains ongoing.

Kuntz's nomination to the federal bench later prompted criticism over a potential conflict of interest after it emerged that he had discussed the possibility of a federal judicial appointment while the Pulitzer case was before him.

Kuntz rejected the concerns, saying Florida's judicial ethics rules did not require him to recuse himself. He also said the White House did not contact him about the federal appointment until after he had issued his ruling.

During his time on Florida's appeals court, Kuntz handled a broad range of cases, including disputes involving the release of grand jury information concerning convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a lawsuit brought by a survivor of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting against a security company that trained and employed the gunman.

The change of judge adds another layer of scrutiny to Trump's high-profile legal battle with the BBC, with the case now moving toward its scheduled 2027 trial.