12.11.2025 – (12:01 PM) Htate See

The BBC has apologised for editing a speech that suggested Donald Trump was encouraging acts of terrorism ahead of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, but US President Donald Trump threatened the BBC with billions of dollars in legal action on November 10.

In a letter seen by AFP, Trump’s lawyers said they had given the broadcaster until November 14 to fully retract the edited speech, apologise to the president and pay him appropriate compensation.

If the BBC fails to do so, President Trump will have no choice but to pursue his legal and due process rights, including seeking damages of up to US$1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars), the letter said.

Tim Davies and the BBC’s head of news, Deborah Ratnes, have both resigned after allegations emerged that they had edited a report on their flagship programme Panorama in a misleading way about a speech by Trump.

The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) resigned on November 9 after a controversy over the editing of a report on US President Donald Trump, and the head of news also resigned with him.

The BBC said it would consider a letter from Trump’s legal team. It also issued a public apology for the editing.

The report cited a speech on January 6, 2016, in which Trump urged a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol to try to hold on to power despite losing to Democratic rival Joe Biden in his bid for re-election.

However, a letter from Trump’s legal team said the BBC’s editorial was inaccurate and “defamatory, malicious, divisive, and inflammatory” about the content of Trump’s speech outside the White House.

Trump was seen as joining his supporters in attacking the Capitol and making a strong case for a violent attack. The president said at the time: “We are going to give our brave senators, our congressmen, and our women a big blessing.”

“Due to its interesting nature, the fabricated news report broadcast by the BBC was widely reported on various digital media outlets, reaching millions of people around the world,” it said. As a result, the BBC said it had caused financial and reputational damage to President Trump.