What did the BBC do to anger Donald Trump? And what has he said about the resignations?

It didn’t take long for the White House to react – and that’s unsurprising given that the resignations were driven, on the face of it at least, by the BBC’s splicing together of that Trump speech from January 2021.

It was clear on Friday that the White House was keen to weigh into the BBC row, with the White House press secretary using an interview with The Daily Telegraph to slam the BBC.

“This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100% fake news that should no longer be worth the time on the television screens of the great people of the United Kingdom,” Karoline Leavitt told the newspaper.

After last night’s resignations, Mr Trump posted a lengthy statement on Truth Social.

“The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th,” he wrote.

“Thank you to The Telegraph for exposing these Corrupt ‘Journalists.’ These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election. On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”

It was the Telegraph that leaked the internal memo last week in which it was revealed that a BBC Panorama report – aired just before the election last year – had spliced together two parts of a long Trump speech which he made on 6 January 2021.

That was the day of the storming of the Capitol building in Washington by Trump supporters who believed the 2020 election had been stolen by Joe Biden.

Mr Trump gave a speech that day. In a Panorama report broadcast just before the US election last year, the BBC aired a clip from the speech.

The following is the transcript of that clip.

“We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you and we fight. We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”

The clip was presented as one sentence – one thought. However, it was actually two distinct parts of the speech spliced together, reordered and covered with pictures of the crowd to hide the join – known as the edit point or cut.

Had the Panorama production team not edited the clip ,this is what viewers would have heard. The sections used by Panorama are in bold for clarity.

“After this, we’re going to walk down – and I’ll be there with you – we’re gonna walk down, we’re gonna walk down anyone you want, but I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave congressmen and women, and we probably not gonna be cheering so much for some of them. Because you’re never going to take back our country with weakness you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing, and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated. I know that everyone will soon be marching down to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

The “fight like hell” line came about an hour later – right at the end of the speech. Here it is in full. Again, the section used by Panorama are in bold for clarity.

“And again, most people would stand there at 9 o’clock in the evening and say I want to thank you very much, and they go off to some other life. But I said something’s wrong here, something is really wrong, can’t have happened. And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore. Our exciting adventures and boldest endeavours have not yet begun. My fellow Americans, for our movement, for our children, and for our beloved country. And I say this despite all that’s happened. The best is yet to come. So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I love Pennsylvania Avenue. And we’re going to the Capitol. The Democrats are hopeless, they never vote for anything. Not even one vote. But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones don’t need any of our help. We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all. God bless you and God Bless America.”

The riot at the Capitol building unfolded that afternoon.

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The president and his team have always claimed the “fight like hell” comment was purely rhetorical, and they have dismissed accusations that Mr Trump encouraged the unrest.

Trump’s alleged role in the unrest and his broader efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election were the subject of a federal criminal case. The president was indicted on four felony counts.

The case was dismissed by federal prosecutors following his 2024 election victory because of a long-standing policy that prohibits the prosecution of sitting presidents.

But in a final report released last January, federal prosecutor Jack Smith said he believed there was enough evidence to convict Mr Trump in a trial had it happened.

There is a legitimate and enduring debate over Mr Trump’s role in the events of January 6th. But that does not in any way explain or excuse BBC’s decision to splice together and reorder two distinct parts of the president’s speech.

Ghislaine Maxwell has said she is “much, much happier” since being moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas, leaked emails reveal.

The messages – which were shared with US politicians – have been exclusively obtained by Sky’s US partner NBC News.

Maxwell, a disgraced British socialite and ex-girlfriend of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

She was moved days after being interviewed by the Justice Department in July – even though prisoners convicted of sex offences aren’t meant to be held in such facilities.

This – along with reported perks such as meals sent to her dormitory room, late-night workouts and permission to shower when other inmates are in bed – have led some critics to claim she is receiving “VIP treatment”.

Describing conditions at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, Maxwell wrote to a relative: “The food is legions better, the place is clean, the staff polite… I haven’t heard or seen the usual foul language or screaming accompanied by threats levelled by inmates by anyone.

“I have not seen a single fight, drug deal, passed out person or naked inmate running around or several of them congregating in a shower! In other words, I feel like I have dropped through Alice in Wonderland’s looking glass.”

The 63-year-old contrasted this with FCI Tallahassee in Florida, where she described possums falling from ceilings, frying on ovens, and mingling with food being served.

Some of Maxwell’s new inmates have told The Wall Street Journal that they have been threatened with retaliation if they speak about her to the media – with reports suggesting at least one was transferred.

Her lawyer David Oscar Markus told NBC News: “There’s nothing journalistic about publishing a prisoner’s private emails, including ones with her lawyers. That’s tabloid behaviour, not responsible reporting.

“Anyone still interested in that kind of gossip reveals far more about themselves than about Ghislaine. It’s time to get over the fact that she is in a safer facility. We should want that for everyone.”

Meanwhile, Maxwell’s brother Ian said their messages were ” private by their very nature” – and if they were sent to a reporter, “they were stolen and leaked without authorisation”.

The Justice Department has declined to comment.

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Federal Prison Camp Bryan is located in a residential area, ringed with barbed wire and houses about 635 prisoners – and Maxwell’s arrival over the summer sparked protests.

One demonstrator said back in August: “It’s brought a lot of attention to our town that we haven’t consented for. We don’t want a child sex trafficker here.”

Last month, the Supreme Court rejected Maxwell’s attempts to appeal her sentence – meaning a presidential pardon from Donald Trump is now her best shot at being freed before her projected release date in 2037, when she would be 75 years old.

Mr Trump told reporters at the time that he was planning to speak to the Justice Department and “would have to take a look” at whether he would consider clemency.

Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges back in 2019, but pressure remains on those who had connections to the disgraced financier.

Earlier this week, the US Congress wrote to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – who has now been stripped of his royal titles by the King – requesting an interview about his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein.

Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her after being introduced by Epstein. Andrew has always vehemently denied her accusations.

She alleged she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times – including once at Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London.

US officials have issued an emergency order banning flights of the model of plane involved in a deadly crash in Kentucky last week, pending inspection.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) for McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft after a UPS plane bound for Honolulu crashed on take-off in Louisville on Tuesday evening, killing 14 people. The victims included three pilots.

Delivery firms UPS and FedEx had already grounded their fleets of the planes on Friday “out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety”.

The FAA said the order, which came following a recommendation by its manufacturer Boeing, was prompted after “an accident where the left-hand engine and pylon detached from the airplane”.

A spokesperson for the authority added: “The cause of the detachment is currently under investigation. This condition could result in the loss of continued safe flight and landing.

“The FAA is issuing this AD because the agency has determined the unsafe condition is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same type design.

“The AD prohibits further flight until the airplane is inspected and all applicable corrective actions are performed.”

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The MD-11 was first manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in 1988, until its merger with Boeing in 1997.

It was once used by commercial airlines, including Finnair and KLM, as a passenger jet, but was retired in 2014, and is now used only as a freight plane.

Government shutdown impacts commercial flights

It came as more than 1,300 commercial flights were cancelled in the US on Saturday because of an FAA order, unrelated to the Kentucky crash, to reduce air traffic amid the ongoing government shutdown.

The deadlock in Washington has resulted in shortages of air traffic control staff, who have not been paid for weeks.

Officials have warned that the number of daily cancellations could rise in the coming days unless the political row is resolved.