(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) asserted that he would take legal action against the BBC over a misleading edit of his 6 January 2021 speech that sparked resignations and apologies from the British broadcaster.

Trump also added that he had not yet spoken to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the BBC issue, but added that he would call Starmer over the weekend.

Earlier, Trump had threatened to sue the British broadcaster for a whopping $1 billion.

Subsequently, the BBC acknowledged an error on its part and apologized to Trump, but maintained that it had not defamed the US President and rejected the basis for the lawsuit threat.

"While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim," the British broadcaster said in a statement.

The BBC also said that chair Samir Shah had shot a personal letter to the White House“making clear that he and the corporation were sorry for the edit.”

Shah's letter, sent on Thursday, came after the BBC chair apologized to a British parliamentary oversight committee, calling the misleading edit an“error of judgement”.

The BBC's apology to Trump was also hailed by British culture minister Lisa Nandy, who told Times Radio,“They've rightly accepted that they didn't meet the highest standards and that's the basis on which the chairman of the board has offered this apology to the President of the United States.”

(This is developing story. Check back for updates)

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