Judge swapped in Trump's defamation case against BBC

A judge recently appointed by Donald Trump to a federal court in Florida has assumed responsibility for the former US president's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC.

Jeffrey Kuntz, whose nomination as a federal judge by Trump in April was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate last month with a 51-46 vote, has taken over the case. Previously, Kuntz served as an appeals court judge in Florida. He replaces Judge Roy Altman, another Trump nominee from 2019.

Altman had been overseeing the lawsuit, in which Trump alleges defamation by the BBC regarding the editing of a speech he delivered outside the Capitol in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, for its "Panorama" program. This case is one of 17 that have been transferred to Kuntz since his appointment to the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in July.

When announcing Kuntz's nomination on his Truth Social platform in April, Trump commended his work on Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, stating, "Jeffrey has been TOUGH and SMART and delivered strong results for the Sunshine State."

The trial for Trump's case against the BBC is currently scheduled for February 2027, with the former president requesting a jury trial.

The BBC has previously issued an apology for combining two distinct parts of the speech Trump gave before the 2021 Capitol riots. However, the broadcaster has sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that the program does not meet the legal definition of defamation and that the Florida court lacks jurisdiction over the corporation because the program was not accessible in Florida.

As a Florida appeals judge, Kuntz was involved in another defamation case initiated by Trump. On February 12, 2025, he was part of a three-judge panel that ruled in Trump's favor, allowing him to proceed with a lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize board. This lawsuit stemmed from the board honoring The New York Times and The Washington Post for their reporting on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. That case is ongoing.

Kuntz's appointment by Trump in April drew accusations of a conflict of interest from opponents, as it emerged he had been in discussions about a potential federal court appointment at the time of the Pulitzer case. Kuntz stated that Florida judicial ethics rules did not require him to recuse himself from the case, and he was only contacted by the White House after he had rendered his legal opinion.

In his capacity as an appeals judge, Kuntz also handled a diverse range of other cases, including those concerning the release of grand jury information related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and whether a survivor of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting could sue a security company that trained and employed the shooter.

Related developments include the BBC's attempt to subpoena family members in the "Panorama" lawsuit, a judge granting Trump's request to delay providing financial records to the BBC, and Trump dropping the BBC's commercial arm from the "Panorama" lawsuit while the main case continues.