Trump Scores $22 Million Settlement from YouTube

Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the suspension of his YouTube account after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Court filings made public Monday show that the settlement resolves all claims from the case, but Alphabet, Google, and YouTube did not admit any wrongdoing, nor will they change any policies or products as part of the deal.

Of the total amount, $22 million will go to a charity Trump has directed, the Trust for the National Mall, which works to preserve and restore the National Mall and support the construction of the White House State Ballroom.

The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed to other plaintiffs in the case, including the American Conservative Union, Andrew Baggiani, Austen Fletcher, Maryse Veronica Jean-Louis, Frank Valentine, Kelly Victory, and Naomi Wolf, according to the filing.

The settlement follows similar payments Trump received from other companies over comparable lawsuits. Meta, formerly Facebook, paid $25 million in January 2025 over his suspension from Facebook and Instagram, while X, settled for $10 million in February 2025.

Paramount Global also paid $16 million this summer to settle a lawsuit related to a 60 Minutes segment, and Disney paid $15 million in December 2024 to settle a defamation case involving ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Trump initially sued YouTube, Meta, and X in July 2021, claiming their account suspensions were a form of “censorship” and violated his First Amendment rights. YouTube had suspended Trump’s channel on January 12, 2021, after determining that his content violated policies against inciting violence.

YouTube later reinstated Trump’s account in March 2023, explaining it had weighed the risks of violence with giving voters access to major national candidates. Meta and X similarly reinstated his accounts, with Meta citing “new guardrails” and X allowing the return in November 2022.

These settlements show how high-profile legal disputes over social media and content moderation can end with large financial agreements, even without the companies admitting wrongdoing. Do you think these payouts set a precedent for future social media disputes? Share your thoughts in the comments.