YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million (€20.9 million) to settle a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over the suspension of his account following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
According to Euronews, Trump had launched legal battles against multiple social media giants including Meta and X (formerly Twitter) after his accounts were blocked in the wake of the Capitol unrest. While legal experts initially dismissed the lawsuits as unlikely to succeed, all three companies have now opted for settlements.
Court documents filed on Monday reveal that $22 million (€18.8 million) from YouTube’s settlement will go toward the Trust for the National Mall and the construction of a White House ballroom, projects Trump has reportedly supported. The remaining $2.5 million (€2.1 million) will be distributed among other plaintiffs, including American author Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union, who were also parties to the case.
Trump’s accounts were reinstated in 2023, after being suspended for more than two years. The ban came amid accusations that his online rhetoric fueled the violent events of January 6. The settlements mark a significant shift from the earlier hardline stance of social media companies, which insisted their decisions were justified on public safety grounds.
Earlier this year, Meta (the parent company of Facebook) and X agreed to separate financial settlements with Trump under similar lawsuits. Details of those settlements were not fully disclosed, but they represent a broader reconciliation between Trump and the platforms that once silenced his online presence.
Analysts suggest that Trump’s ability to secure settlements from the biggest tech platforms could strengthen his political narrative of being “censored” and unfairly targeted. At the same time, the allocation of most of the settlement funds toward civic and institutional projects underscores a negotiated compromise rather than a clear legal victory.