This is why Donald Trump is threatening to take legal action against the BBC

Donald Trump has threatened to take legal action against the BBC over the editing of one of his speeches in a Panorama documentary.

The documentary was accused of misleading viewers into believing Trump had encouraged the Capitol Hill riots that took place in January 2021.

It had spliced together two parts of a speech he gave at the time, which didn’t include a section where he reportedly asked supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.”

The news comes after BBC chair Samir Shah confirmed they had received communication from Trump over the editing of the documentary, which was broadcast the week before last year’s US election.

Mr Shah also said he didn’t know if Trump would be taking legal action, but confessed: “He’s a litigious fellow so we should be prepared for all outcomes.”

The US president has a history of suing media outlets in the US, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Shah also said the corporation would like to “apologise for that error of judgment”, and admitted: “We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action.”

On Sunday, the BBC’s Director General Tim Davie and the CEO of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned over the episode.

Trump welcomed their departures on social media, and claimed there had been an attempt to “step on the scales of a presidential election”.

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