Meta has agreed to pay roughly $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the suspension of his social media accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
According to The Wall Street Journal, $22 million will go toward a fund for Trump’s forthcoming presidential library, while the rest will cover legal fees and the other plaintiffs. Trump signed the settlement agreement Wednesday in the Oval Office, reported CNN.
The settlement is the latest indication of cozying relations between Trump and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has worked in recent months to mend their strained ties and earn a spot in the president’s orbit.
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Meta suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after he cast doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election and his supporters violently stormed the Capitol in a bid to stop the certification of then-President Joe Biden’s victory.
“We believe the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” the social media giant said at the time.
Trump later sued Meta, Twitter, and YouTube for banning him from their platforms, calling for an end to “the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well.”
Twitter, now known as X, welcomed Trump back in 2022 after the company was purchased by Elon Musk. YouTube rolled back its suspension in 2023. Meta did not lift restrictions on Trump’s accounts until the presidential campaign came into full swing last year.
But that’s all in the past now.
The Journal reported that talks about settling the lawsuit began late last year when Zuckerberg met Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Meta also donated $1 million to the president’s inaugural fund and Zuckerberg was seated alongside other tech bros on Trump’s big day.
Shortly after Trump signed a blitz of executive orders, including one ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal government, Meta announced that it would terminate its own DEI initiatives.
Zuckerberg also welcomed Dana White, UFC CEO and close Trump ally, to the Meta board of directors and ended the company’s fact-checking program.
Though the tech billionaire has done a lot to curry favor with Trump, it might not be enough. The president’s staffers earlier told Rolling Stone that Zuckerberg would have to do “a lot more ass-kissing” to secure his spot.
High-powered attorney Mark Lemley, meanwhile, dropped Meta as a client due to Zuckerberg’s “descent into toxic masculinity.”
