Youtube Settles With Trump For $24.5 Millon

YouTube agreed to pay $24.5 million on Monday to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump, who accused the platform of censoring him and his followers.

While YouTube does not have to admit fault, it must give $22 million to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall to help fund the construction of the White House State Ballroom, at Trump’s behest. An additional $2.5 million will go to a group of his supporters, including the American Conservative Union and author Naomi Wolf.

Trump brought lawsuits against YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, and Meta and Twitter (now X) in 2021, shortly after they suspended his accounts following the Capitol riot. Trump alleged that the companies were suppressing his account due to pressure from his enemies, including Democrats in Congress and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

YouTube is the last of the three to settle. Meta settled in January for $25 million, while X agreed to settle a month later for $10 million.

Legal experts were skeptical about the suits’ merits at the outset, noting that the courts were unlikely to rule in Trump's favor due to First Amendment concerns.

But the landscape has changed significantly since then. Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, now X, marked the start of a long unwinding of the platform's strict Covid-era moderation policies. After Trump’s re-election, Meta suspended its fact-checking operation.

And YouTube said last week, in a letter to Sen. Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, that it would begin to restore accounts kicked off for misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic and aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.