Trump threatens $1bn legal action against BBC for doctored speech

US President Donald Trump threatens the BBC with $1bn legal action over the editing of his speech in a documentary.

In a letter to the corporation, his legal team demands the BBC "immediately retract" the Panorama programme by 14 November, calling it "false and defamatory", BBC reports.

It comes as BBC chair Samir Shah apologised for an "error of judgement" over the edit, and said the BBC was "considering" how to respond to Trump.

BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of news Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday night, after a leaked memo criticised a 2024 Panorama programme about the US president.

The memo, written by ex-BBC adviser Michael Prescott, said the programme put two parts of Trump's speech together so he appeared to explicitly encourage the Capitol Hill riots of January 2021.

In a letter to MPs on the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, Shah says the editing "did give the impression of a direct call for violent action".

He adds it is "simply not true" to say the BBC has done nothing to tackle problems raised, and in a later interview insists there is no systemic bias at the BBC.