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 Monday.
The deal makes Google, YouTube’s parent company, the last of three major tech firms to resolve lawsuits Trump filed in July 2021 accusing them of unlawfully censoring conservative viewpoints. Earlier this year, Meta paid about $25 million and X, formerly Twitter, paid about $10 million to settle similar claims.
Under the YouTube agreement, $22 million will be directed to the Trust for the National Mall to support construction of a $200 million ballroom Trump is building at the White House. The filing said the 90,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed before the end of Trump’s current term in January 2029. The remaining funds will go to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union and author Naomi Wolf.
YouTube did not admit wrongdoing and will not alter its products or policies under the settlement.
Trump’s account was suspended from uploading videos in 2021 and restored in 2023.
