Trump Rips Kirk Case Judge as Robinson Defense Seeks 2029 Trial

President Donald Trump on Friday tore into the Utah judge overseeing the Charlie Kirk assassination case, saying in a Truth Social post that Judge Tony Graf is “doing a terrible job” as lawyers for accused gunman Tyler Robinson push for a trial that would not start until 2029.

“The judge in the Charlie Kirk case is doing a terrible job! This case should be tried within a month, not three years — and it should be over with!” Trump wrote, according to Fox News. “The judge is desecrating the memory of the Great Charlie Kirk, while taking forever to ask questions that people already know the answer to. The whole Country is mocking him and our ‘Legal’ System. JUSTICE FOR CHARLIE!”

President Donald Trump is calling for a swift trial for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of murdering conservative activist Charlie Kirk. https://t.co/uPw6jCrbkQ

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 23, 2026

The president’s post landed hours before Graf opened a Friday afternoon hearing in Provo meant to set a trial schedule, according to KSL and Reuters. KSL reported the hearing would not be livestreamed. As of this writing, no trial date had been announced.

Three very different timelines

The fight is over how long Kirk’s family and the country will wait for a verdict. Robinson’s attorneys told the court they need about three years to prepare for a trial they estimate would last six to seven months, and they asked that it begin in the third quarter of 2029, according to Reuters and KSL.

In their filing, the defense argued that locking in a firm date now would create “false precision” and could jeopardize Robinson’s rights in a capital case, according to Fox News. The lawyers cited the large volume of evidence they have not yet reviewed and the difficulty of seating a jury, Fox reported.

Prosecutors with the Utah County Attorney’s Office see it very differently. They expect a 17-week trial, said they would be ready to go within a week, and proposed a start date of Jan. 31, 2028, according to KSL and Reuters. Utah prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, Reuters reported.

Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, wants it sooner still. Through her attorneys, she asked the court to begin the trial as early as practicable in 2027, preferably no later than Oct. 4, according to Reuters. Her filing called the defense timeline “grossly out of line with comparable cases,” Reuters and Fox News reported, and her lawyers called the defense’s proposed schedule “absurd,” according to the Associated Press.

“Every additional day of delay carries the weight of all that Charlie’s murder has taken from his family, especially his two young children,” Erika Kirk’s filing said, according to Fox News. The filing noted the children would be seven and five by the time a verdict came down under the defense’s schedule, Fox reported.

The case so far

Robinson, 23, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts, including aggravated murder, according to Reuters. He is accused of shooting Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, as Kirk held one of his trademark campus debates at Utah Valley University in Orem in September 2025, Reuters reported.

Fox News reported that an armored truck believed to be carrying Robinson arrived at the courthouse ahead of Friday’s hearing. The Deseret News reported that both sides filed their scheduling memorandums on Wednesday and that Erika Kirk filed a victim’s motion for a speedy trial on Thursday.

For conservatives who watched Kirk build a movement of young voters, the gap between a 2027 trial and a 2029 trial is not a technicality. It is the difference between justice in a year and justice four years after the killing. Trump made clear on Friday which side of that question the White House is on. Daily Beltway will update this story when Judge Graf sets a date.

Reporting by Daily Beltway.