Alphabet-owned YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by former U.S. President Donald Trump over the suspension of his account following the January 2021 Capitol riots, according to a court filing on Monday.
The settlement makes Google the last of the major tech companies to resolve lawsuits Trump filed in July 2021, alleging that they unlawfully silenced conservative voices. Trump had also sued Twitter (now X) and Facebook owner Meta, as well as Alphabet and their chief executives. Meta and X reached settlements earlier this year.
Under the YouTube agreement, $22 million will go to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit that is funding a $200 million ballroom that Trump is building at the White House. The 90,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed well before the end of Trump’s four-year term in January 2029.
The remaining $2.5 million will be distributed to other plaintiffs in the case, including the American Conservative Union, which hosts the Conservative Political Action Conference, and author Naomi Wolf.
YouTube did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement and will not make changes to its products or policies. Trump’s account had been restricted from uploading new content in 2021 but was restored in 2023.
Earlier settlements saw Meta pay about $25 million, with $22 million allocated to a fund for Trump’s forthcoming presidential library in Miami, while X paid approximately $10 million.
The settlements close a chapter on Trump’s legal battles with major tech companies over alleged censorship in the aftermath of the Capitol riots.
