Trump threatens BBC with legal action over Panorama speech editing

Donald Trump has threatened legal action against the BBC after criticizing the use of an edited speech by the US President in a Panorama documentary.

His legal team has given the BBC a deadline of November 14 to "fully and fairly withdraw" the documentary - or face a $1 billion (£760 million) lawsuit.

A leaked internal BBC memo stated that the show misled viewers by splicing together two parts of Trump's January 6, 2021, speech, making it appear as if he was explicitly urging people to attack the US Capitol following his election defeat.

Outgoing BBC News CEO Deborah Turness, along with Director General Tim Davie, insisted after their resignations that the company is not "institutionally biased."

Both resigned on Sunday following mounting pressure following the Telegraph's publication last week of a memo written by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to the broadcaster's Editorial Standards Committee.

The memo details several "disturbing issues" at the BBC, including flawed Gaza coverage, anti-Trump and anti-Israel bias, and biased transgender reporting. It also mentions the editing of Panorama.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah admitted that the documentary was "mistakenly judged" and that the edited speech seemed like a "direct call to action."

But responding to a letter from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, he said it was "simply not true" that the memo highlighted issues the BBC "wanted to bury"—and that it was also not true that the BBC did nothing to address the concerns raised in the memo.

Trump's letter, which the BBC confirmed on Sunday, calls for an apology and "appropriate compensation" from the corporation to the president.

It accuses the BBC of making "false, defamatory, insulting, misleading, and inflammatory statements" about him.

Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, also accused the BBC of defamation under Florida law.