YouTube to pay Trump $24.5m in settlement over account suspension

September 30, 2025 (MLN): YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5m to settle a lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump after the company suspended his account following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a court filing on Monday.

The Google-owned video platform is the latest Big Tech firm to resolve a case with Trump, who has repeatedly challenged his broad deplatforming in the aftermath of the Capitol assault, according to APP.

Under the settlement, the $22m will be directed toward Trump’s latest construction project at the White House through the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, which describes itself as dedicated to restoring, preserving, and elevating the National Mall in support of building a new White House State Ballroom.

In addition to the ballroom funds, YouTube agreed to pay $2.5m to a number of Trump allies, including the American Conservative Union.

Trump celebrated the outcome in a Truth Social post late Monday, declaring that the “MASSIVE victory proves Big Tech censorship has consequences,” and insisting that he “fought for free speech and WON.”

Trump and his legal team had argued that his removal was based on “non-existent or broad, vague and ever-shifting standards.”

His account was suspended after the Capitol was overrun by pro-Trump rioters who injured more than 140 police officers in hours of violent clashes, wielding flagpoles, bats, hockey sticks, Tasers, and bear spray as they sought to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.

On January 12, 2021, YouTube blocked Trump from uploading new videos, citing “concerns about the ongoing potential for violence,” a move that mirrored actions taken by Facebook and Twitter.

Legal experts have long regarded Trump’s claims against the tech giants as tenuous, noting that the First Amendment restricts the government, not private companies, from limiting speech.

YouTube itself argued in a December 2021 filing that it “is not a state actor and its exercise of editorial discretion over its private service does not implicate Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.”

The settlement drew sharp criticism from journalism watchdog group Media Matters. “YouTube’s capitulation is shameful and shortsighted. Needlessly folding now will only help encourage Trump’s efforts to stifle dissent by bringing media and online platforms to heel,” said Angelo Carusone, the group’s president.

Despite doubts over the legal strength of Trump’s cases, tech and media companies have increasingly opted to settle with him since his return to office, wary of Washington’s regulatory posture toward their industries. Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, is currently facing an antitrust trial in Virginia in which federal lawyers are seeking to break up its advertising technology business.

The YouTube deal follows a string of other settlements. In February, Elon Musk’s X platform agreed to pay $10m in a Trump lawsuit involving the company and former chief executive Jack Dorsey.

Paramount Global also reached an agreement earlier this year, paying $16m to settle Trump’s lawsuit over an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that he claimed was edited unfairly, a deal that came as Paramount sought regulatory approval for its $8bn takeover by Skydance, later approved by the Federal Communications Commission in July.

The YouTube settlement emphasized Trump’s continued ability to secure multimillion-dollar payouts from major corporations, even as legal experts question the constitutional basis of his claims.

Copyright Mettis Link News