YouTube will pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump after the platform suspended his account following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The settlement was disclosed Monday in court filings, ahead of a scheduled hearing before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California.
The agreement directs $22 million to the Trust for the National Mall and toward the construction of a White House ballroom. Another $2.5 million will be distributed to other plaintiffs, including author Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union. The court filing emphasized that the resolution does not represent an admission of liability.
Trump filed the lawsuit against YouTube in October 2021, arguing that the platform wrongfully censored him after the Capitol riot. He also brought similar claims against Facebook and Twitter, asserting that the companies violated his rights by suspending his accounts in 2021. The Twitter case was dismissed by a federal judge in 2022, while the lawsuits against Meta and YouTube remained largely inactive until after his 2024 re-election.
At the time the lawsuits were filed, legal experts noted they faced steep obstacles because of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That statute shields online platforms from liability for content posted by users and gives them broad discretion to remove or restrict material. YouTube defended Trump’s suspension on those grounds, describing it as a preventative measure consistent with its rules on incitement and public safety. His account was reinstated in 2023, two years before the settlement was finalized. Courts have consistently interpreted Section 230 to uphold companies’ authority to suspend accounts, making Trump’s claims difficult to sustain.
Since returning to office, Trump has reached financial settlements with each of the platforms he challenged. Meta agreed to pay $25 million earlier this year, while Twitter, acquired by Elon Musk and renamed X, resolved its case for $10 million.
He has also pursued litigation against major media organizations. In December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward his presidential library to settle a defamation claim stemming from an inaccurate on-air statement by anchor George Stephanopoulos. In July, Paramount paid $16 million to resolve a dispute involving edits to a “60 Minutes” segment.
The settlement also comes as YouTube has begun adjusting its content moderation policies. The company recently announced it would reinstate creators banned for spreading misinformation related to COVID-19 and the 2020 election. Court filings note that these changes were discussed during negotiations but were not included as conditions of the settlement.
With the settlement, Trump’s lawsuit against YouTube and Google is formally closed after more than four years, joining other high-profile social media disputes resolved through settlement rather than court judgment.
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