“You tube capitulate!” Donald Trump will receive $ 22 million to give up the process against the platform. How did it get here
YouTube has reached a financial agreement with Donald Trump, accepting to pay him $ 22 million to avoid a process after his account suspended following the events in the Capitol of January 2021.
Neal Mohan, Donald Trump and $ 24.5 million check. Photo: X.
YouTube, part of the Google group, preferred to avoid a long and unpredictable process, paying $ 22 million to close the litigation opened in July 2021, after suspending Donald Trump's account, following the events in the Capitol. The company did not recognize its blame, nor promised to modify moderation policies.
What Donald Trump says
Donald Trump reacted immediately on the SA Truth Social Platform, where he greeted “a huge victory” and published a photomontage in which he appears receiving a huge check in the hands of director YouTube (Neal Mohan (the amount of $ 24.5 million also refers to the damages that you Tube will pay to other applicants).
The money is to be transferred to a trust, which has among the goals and the financing of building a giant ballot at the White House.
The suspension of Trump's account had been decided on January 12, 2021, a few days after the chapter attack, a violent episode that rocked the United States and caused the death of five people. The platform justified its decision by the fact that Trump's messages represented a risk of inciting disorders. Donald Trump's account was restored only in March 2023, after more than two years of blocking.
Similar disputes
YouTube is the last big platform that preferred to amicably concludes Trump's disputes, after Meta agreed to pay $ 21 million in early 2025, and X, the former Twitter, paid $ 10 million a few weeks later.
At the same time, similar agreements were signed with other media companies. CBS paid $ 16 million in July 2025 to avoid a process related to an interview with Kamala Harris, and ABC had already accepted in December 2024 to pay $ 15 million in another dispute.
YouTube understanding also includes the additional $ 2.5 million payment to other accounts for suspended accounts after the events of January 6, including Austen Fletcher and Naomi Wolf, known to promote conspiracy theories.
“A shameful capitulation”
But not everyone welcomed the decision of the You Tube platform to reach an agreement. The Media Matters organization has qualified the agreement as “a shameful and visionless capitulation”.
“Subject yourself for no reason at this time means to encourage Trump and his efforts to stifle the dissident voices by controlling the media and online platforms,” said Angelo Carusone, president of the association.
Many lawyers have claimed, in fact, that Trump's chances of winning were reduced, as YouTube and other social networks, being private companies, have the right to regulate the content published on their platforms.
For Donald Trump, however, these agreements are an image victory. They allow him to present himself in front of his supporters as an opponent of the censorship imposed by Big Tech and to transform complicated legal disputes into a series of political successes.
