BBC News says it received legal threat from Trump over speech edit

Members of the media wait outside the home of former Director General of BBC Tim Davie, after he and Chief Executive of BBC News Deborah Turness resigned following accusations of bias at the British broadcaster, including in the way it edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Henley-on-Thames, Britain, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

LONDON (Reuters) -BBC News said on Monday the broadcaster had received a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump threatening legal action over the edit of a documentary broadcast a week before the U.S. presidential election.

The BBC has acknowledged the Trump speech edit gave a misleading impression and should have been handled more carefully.

The documentary broadcast last year had spliced together two parts of a Trump speech so he appeared to be encouraging the Capitol Hill riot of January 2021.

Samir Shah, the chairman of the publicly-funded broadcaster, said in an interview with BBC News that it was "considering" how to respond to Trump's communication.

When prompted about whether Trump would be suing the BBC, Shah said: "I do not know that yet, but he's a litigious fellow, so we should be prepared for all outcomes."

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Kate Holton)