Trump threatens BBC with lawsuit over edited speech; broadcaster apologizes as top executives resign

Donald Trump formally threatened legal action against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Monday over the broadcaster's use of an allegedly misleading edit of a 2021 speech concerning the Capitol Hill assault.

The threat, delivered via a letter sent to the BBC, follows the resignations of the corporation's two most senior figures and an apology issued by the BBC chairman regarding the editorial lapse.

The controversy centers on a documentary, reportedly aired in 2024 as part of the BBC's flagship investigative program Panorama, which allegedly combined two separate passages from a Trump speech delivered in 2021. Critics, including Trump, argue the resulting edit was artificial and strengthened the impression that the former U.S. president explicitly incited the January 6, 2021, assault on Capitol Hill.

The BBC confirmed receipt of the letter from Mr. Trump, stating that the public service broadcaster reserves the right to respond to the formal threat of a lawsuit.

The legal threat comes amid a major internal crisis for the BBC, a century-old institution historically regarded as a model for public broadcasting. On Sunday, Director General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness announced their resignations. Their departures followed intense scrutiny and accusations of political bias, particularly from right-wing media and politicians in the UK.

The resignations were prompted by concerns raised in a leaked internal report by a former BBC standards adviser, which alleged failures in the broadcaster's coverage across several topics, including the selective editing of the Trump speech.

BBC Chair Samir Shah addressed the fallout on Monday, stating the corporation would like to apologize for an "error of judgment" regarding the editing of the speech used in the Panorama program.

Mr. Trump welcomed the resignations of Davie and Turness, praising a right-wing newspaper for exposing what he called "Corrupt 'Journalists.'" He further alleged that the individuals involved were "very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election."

The controversy has escalated beyond the broadcaster's internal affairs, reaching the British Parliament. The BBC's leadership was forced to step down following the campaign against the corporation's alleged lack of impartiality. The process for finding successors to the resigned executives is expected to begin shortly, even as claims persist that the resignations were the result of a targeted "campaign by political enemies of the BBC."