BBC headquarters on the 10th. AFP Yonhap News. 

British broadcaster BBC has reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter warning of legal action against the BBC, which was accused of intentionally editing his speech last year. BBC reported this on the 10th (local time).

According to AFP and U.S. media outlets, Trump's team informed the BBC in a letter that they would file a $1 billion lawsuit (approximately 1.457 trillion won) if the demanded actions were not taken by the 14th.

Trump's lawyers demanded a full and fair retraction of the 'false, defamatory, slanderous, and inflammatory' remarks made in the documentary in question, along with an apology.

The BBC stated that they would review the letter and respond at an appropriate time.

According to a memo sent to the BBC board by Michael Prescott, a former member of the BBC Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), the BBC inserted a speech by Trump from January 6, 2021, the day of the U.S. Capitol riot, into a special documentary titled 'Trump: A Second Chance?', which aired just before the U.S. presidential election last November.

The documentary was criticized for editing three parts of Trump's speech to appear as a single sentence, making it seem as though he incited the Capitol riot.

As criticism intensified, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Director of News and Current Affairs Deborah Turness resigned on the 9th.

Immediately after the resignation announcement, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The BBC leadership resigned or were fired after manipulating my great January 6th speech. These are very dishonest people who tried to influence the presidential election."

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, told Sky News on the 10th that he spoke with President Trump on the 7th, stating that Trump said, "Is this what you do to your closest allies?" and that he was "very, very unhappy about this."

According to Reuters, Samir Shah, Chairman of the BBC, said at the British Parliament on the same day that the BBC concluded "the way the speech was edited gave the impression that it directly incited violent action (among supporters)" and that "I want to apologize for the error in judgment."

However, Shah emphasized that the claim that the BBC board ignored the concerns about bias, as mentioned in Prescott's memo, was not true.

He also asserted that while there may have been individual mistakes and errors, the criticism of systemic or institutional bias was not true, stating, "The DNA and culture of BBC News is impartiality."

A spokesperson for the UK Prime Minister's Office told reporters when asked about the matter on the same day, "Prime Minister Keir Starmer does not believe the BBC is institutionally biased," expressing support for the BBC. The spokesperson added, "What is important here is that the BBC maintains its internationally recognized high standards."

Yonhap News