Trump attack on First Amendment receives major 'benchslap' from judge

Attacks against the press have been characteristic of President Donald Trump’s second term, and now it’s being reported that one of his most notable efforts to stifle the 1st Amendment has received a major “benchslap.”

“Just in,” tweeted Politico Senior Legal Affairs reporter Josh Gerstein on Monday. “Judge Roy Altman benchslaps Trump's attorneys in his $5 to 10 [billion] libel lawsuit against BBC, citing late filings and a missed deadline.”

His post was attached to an image of the latest legal filing from Trump vs. British Broadcasting Corporation, in which the judge asserted, “Rather than timely file his response, the Plaintiff filed two eleventh-hour procedural motions the day his response was due. Neither motion explained why the Plaintiff delayed so long in seeking the requested relief or asked that we extend the response deadline…And, as of this writing, the Plaintiff has missed the deadline to file his response.”

None of that is good for Trump’s case, but the judge’s conclusion was even worse: “We hereby order that by June 10, 2026, the Plaintiff shall file notice with the docket explaining: (1) whether we should consider the Motion to Dismiss unopposed and (2) why we shouldn’t sanction the Plaintiff’s counsel for their apparent disregard of court deadlines.”

In other words, the Trump legal team has just two days to explain why the case shouldn’t be thrown out entirely and why they themselves should not face consequences for wasting the court’s time. This is an embarrassing blow amidst Trump’s wide-ranging war against the media, in which he has suffered losses but also achieved high-profile victories.

Trump’s wins have included high-value settlements with ABC and Paramount, the latter of which, it has been suggested, contributed to the firing of Stephen Colbert. Beyond litigation, the purchase of CNN by a Trump loyalist also resulted in the appointment of a new CBS News chief who has been accused of MAGA sympathies, resulting in a recent string of changes at Trump-targeted 60 Minutes, which fired correspondent Scott Pelley has called an effort to “murder” the legacy news program.

But Trump’s campaign against the press has also been checkered with humiliating losses. In April, a judge threw out his $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, saying the claims were a “groundless” attempt to level allegations before looking for evidence to support them. His lawyers have also just announced intentions to request that the Supreme Court reopen a $475 million lawsuit against CNN that was slapped down earlier this year.

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