This week, YouTube joined a growing number of media and technology companies in reaching a settlement with President Trump regarding one of his lawsuits. Essentially, they’ve resolved a legal dispute with him.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump. The lawsuit stemmed from the banning of his account after the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. This settlement increases Trump’s total earnings from media and tech companies to over $90 million in the past year. It’s a significant amount, highlighting the financial implications of these disputes. The case has drawn considerable attention.
Several of these lawsuits involve disagreements the president has had with news organizations like ABC and CBS. Others address the consequences stemming from the attack on the U.S. Capitol building. These cases cover a range of issues and legal challenges.
A portion of the settlement funds will be used to renovate a presidential library Trump is constructing on 2.6 acres of waterfront land in Miami. The remaining money will be donated to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, where they plan to build a ballroom reminiscent of Mar-a-Lago. The entire project for the ballroom is estimated to cost around $200 million. This includes all construction and design elements.
Here’s a rundown of the payouts:
YouTube: $24.5 million
Following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, YouTube suspended the president’s account. This action was taken due to Donald Trump’s suspected involvement in the riot. The company stated it was concerned about the continued possibility of violence and that Trump had broken their rules against encouraging violence.
Donald Trump’s lawsuit, originally submitted in 2021 to the U.S. District Court in Northern California, claimed that the suspension of his account amounted to “censorship.” However, before the legal dispute was resolved, YouTube had already reinstated Trump’s access in March 2023, considering the approaching presidential election.
According to court filings made public on Monday, Alphabet – the company that owns YouTube and Google – stated it did not accept responsibility for any mistakes related to this case. The agreement did not require the company to alter its policies or products in any way.
Out of the $24.5 million total, $22 million will be given to Donald Trump. He plans to donate this money to the Trust for the National Mall, an organization “dedicated to restoring, preserving, and elevating the National Mall”, and will also help fund the construction of the White House State Ballroom, as stated in the official filing.
In addition to the main settlement, Alphabet is required to pay another $2.5 million to other parties involved in the lawsuit, such as the American Conservative Union and author Naomi Wolf.
Meta and Twitter (X): $35 million
Following the events of January 6, 2021, social media platforms Facebook (now Meta) and Twitter (now X) both blocked former President Trump from using their services. Twitter explained their decision in a statement, noting that recent posts from his account-and how those posts were being understood both on and off the platform-posed a risk of encouraging more violence, and therefore needed to be removed.
Following the ban of Donald Trump’s accounts, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta shared a statement on Facebook. He explained, “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue using our platform at this time are too significant to ignore.”
In July of that year, Trump sued the companies for “censorship.”
By January 2023, Meta had reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, as had X in 2022.
Just before Donald Trump was set to begin his second term in January 2025, Meta chose to resolve a lawsuit by paying him $25 million. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, having bought Twitter and rebranded it as “X”, agreed to a $10 million settlement to resolve its legal case with Trump.
Paramount Global: $16 million
As a supporter of fair reporting, I’m glad to see that Paramount Global has reached a resolution in the legal dispute with Donald Trump regarding the interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes. They’ve agreed to pay $16 million to settle the claims about how the interview was edited. It’s a significant amount, but hopefully, it means they can move forward and focus on delivering the news without this hanging over them. It’s good to see this legal salvo is resolved.
As a total film buff, I was following this story about the interview with Harris on “60 Minutes”. Trump was saying that CBS deliberately edited the interview to make her appear more favorable and improve her election prospects. But CBS strongly denied that, explaining that the edits were just part of their usual editing process. Apparently, 1st Amendment experts also thought the whole claim was pretty weak and without merit.
On Truth Social, Trump claimed that CBS tried to unfairly help Kamala Harris get elected. He alleged they manipulated interview questions by “completely and corruptly changing major answers,” but that their efforts ultimately failed.
In May of last year, CBS proposed a $16 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit brought in Texas. This total amount covered the president’s legal costs and also included a commitment from 60 Minutes to make interview transcripts with future presidential hopefuls publicly available.
Just under a month after reaching a settlement, the FCC gave the go-ahead for Skydance Media to buy Paramount, the company that owns CBS.
Disney: $16 million
Earlier in 2023, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos stated on the “This Week” program that Donald Trump had been found responsible for raping E. Jean Carroll. However, in May 2023, a New York jury determined that while Trump wasn’t liable for rape, he was found liable for sexually abusing Carroll. The jury’s decision differed from Stephanopoulos’ initial assertion.
Following on-air remarks, Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News in federal court in Florida. The case was resolved last December with a settlement from ABC News, which is owned by Disney. As part of the agreement, Disney committed to paying $15 million towards the construction of Trump’s presidential library and an additional $1 million to cover Trump’s legal costs.
The agreement also featured an editor’s note published on the ABC News website, which apologized for the remarks made by Stephanopoulos.
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2025-10-01 13:31