Trump threatens billion-dollar lawsuit against BBC if it does not rectify

Donald Trump has threatened to launch a billion-dollar damages suit against the BBC if it fails to rectify, as well as seek compensation, for the editing of two separate passages of a speech by the US president dated 2021, doctored by the British public broadcaster in such a way as to reinforce the impression that he had explicitly incited an assault on Capitol Hill.

This was revealed by Sky News, publishing the details contained in the letter sent by Trump's lawyers to the BBC, which set a deadline of 14 November, 10pm UK time, to comply with the request.

The managing director of the BBC Tim Davie and the managing director of News Deborah Turness are resigning. This was announced by the British broadcaster itself. The decision follows a storm triggered by criticism of a BBC documentary; specifically, in the editing of the video produced by the flagship programme Panorama, viewers were allegedly misled by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump on 6 January 2021, prior to the attack by protesters on Capitol Hill in Washington.

'There have been mistakes and as managing director I must take ultimate responsibility for them'. This is what the director general of the BBC, Tim Davie, says in his statement announcing his resignation as head of the British broadcaster. "In these increasingly polarised times, the BBC is uniquely valuable and speaks to the best of us. It helps make the UK a special place; extraordinarily kind, tolerant and curious. Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect and we must always be open, transparent and accountable. While not the only reason, the current debate on Bbc News understandably contributed to my decision,' the note further reads.

The allegations revolve around the documentary 'Trump: A Second Chance?', made by the independent company October Films and broadcast last year. According to a memo by former outside counsel Michael Prescott, the programme allegedly edited two separate parts of a Trump speech in such a way as to make it appear that the president was explicitly encouraging a January 2021 assault on Capitol Hill. Prescott left office in June.