Judge swapped in Trump's defamation case against BBC
A judge who was recently nominated by the US president to serve in Florida's federal court will now preside over his $10bn defamation case against the BBC.
In a surprising turn of events, the US President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC has been transferred to a judge nominated by Trump himself. Jeffrey Kuntz, who recently received the presidential nod, has taken over the case from the previous judge, Roy Altman. Kuntz, a judge in Florida's federal court and a former appeals court judge, was confirmed by the Senate with a 51-46 majority in April.
The BBC has previously expressed concerns over the jurisdiction of the Florida court, given that the edited segments of Trump's speech were aired on BBC's Panorama program, which was not available in Florida. Kuntz's appointment has drawn criticism due to his involvement in a similar defamation case in 2025, where he ruled in favor of Trump.
However, he maintains that Florida judicial ethics rules did not require him to withdraw from the case.
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