The President may be right. We may just get sick of winning.
And now Trump scored a massive victory in court that is raising eyebrows.
In a significant legal victory for President Donald Trump, Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed against the company after it suspended his Facebook and Instagram accounts in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot.
The settlement underscores Trump’s shifting relationship with Big Tech.
Once a fierce critic of social-media censorship, Trump has since welcomed tech executives into his circle, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who attended Trump’s inauguration and has been making overtures to the new administration.
Under the agreement, Meta does not admit to any wrongdoing but will still pay $25 million. The bulk of that — $22 million — will go toward a fund for Trump’s presidential library, with the rest covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs.
Trump signed the settlement in the Oval Office on Wednesday, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The lawsuit stemmed from Meta’s decision to ban Trump from its platforms in early 2021, during the final weeks of his first term.
At the time, Trump had been posting claims that he won the 2020 election and that widespread voter fraud handed Joe Biden the presidency. Initially, Meta imposed a two-week suspension, but it later extended the ban to two years. Other tech companies quickly followed suit.
Trump also sued Twitter (now X) and YouTube over their similar bans, but those cases went nowhere. However, Twitter reinstated Trump’s account in November 2022 after Elon Musk took over, and YouTube followed suit in March 2023.
This settlement signals a thaw in relations between Trump and Zuckerberg. The two dined together at Mar-a-Lago in November after Trump’s election victory, and Zuckerberg even donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
This is a stark contrast to last year when Trump vowed to throw Zuckerberg in jail if he attempted to interfere in the 2024 election.
Trump had accused the Meta chief of influencing the 2020 race by funneling over $400 million into election-related efforts— f unds that became known as “Zuckerbucks.”
Zuckerberg, meanwhile, is reportedly eyeing a property in Washington, D.C., as he strengthens ties with the Trump administration.
Meta, too, appears to be adjusting to the new political landscape. The company has scrapped its controversial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and replaced its fact-checking system with a more transparent, community-driven model inspired by X.
These moves have been seen as a step toward restoring free speech after years of aggressive censorship under Biden.
The financial outlook for Meta is also on the rise. On Wednesday, the company reported a 21% revenue increase and a 49% jump in profits for the fourth quarter.
During an investor call, Zuckerberg credited the Trump administration for its support of the tech industry.
“This is going to be a big year for redefining our relationships with governments,” he said.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
