SAN BRUNO, California: Google's YouTube has agreed to pay US$24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump over the suspension of his account following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to court filings.
The settlement ends more than four years of litigation stemming from the decision to cut off Trump's channel after the riot that marked the end of his first term. Under the terms, $22 million will be directed to Trump to fund a contribution to the Trust for the National Mall and the construction of a White House ballroom. Another $2.5 million will go to other parties to the case, including writer Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union.
Alphabet, YouTube's parent, is the third major tech company to settle lawsuits filed by Trump after his removal from mainstream platforms in 2021. Meta Platforms agreed last year to pay $25 million to settle a similar case involving Facebook, while X, formerly Twitter, settled for $10 million. At the time the lawsuits were filed, many legal experts had predicted Trump faced slim chances of winning.
Trump's battle with Silicon Valley has shifted dramatically since. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44.5 billion in 2022, reinstated Trump's account and later became a major backer of his 2024 campaign before the two fell out. By Trump's second inauguration, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were among tech leaders who stood publicly with him, signaling a closer industry relationship than during his first term.
The YouTube settlement adds to a string of legal victories and payouts Trump has secured from media and tech companies since his return to office. ABC News agreed in December to pay $15 million toward his presidential library to settle a defamation claim involving anchor George Stephanopoulos, while Paramount paid $16 million in July to resolve a dispute over CBS's "60 Minutes."
The settlement with YouTube does not include any admission of liability. A spokesperson for Google confirmed the agreement but declined further comment. Trump's YouTube account was restored in 2023.
For Alphabet, the payout is financially negligible. The company's market value has climbed to nearly $3 trillion, up about $600 billion, or 25 percent, since Trump's reelection.
The disclosure came a week ahead of a scheduled October 6 court hearing with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California.
