Donald Trump has signed an agreement with Platforms goal in which the company undertakes to pay approximately 25 million dollars To resolve a lawsuit he filed in 2021, after the suspension of his accounts on Facebook and Instagram after the assault on United States Capitolas reported by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the medium, 22 million dollars From this figure they will go to a fund for the Trump presidential library, while the rest will cover legal costs and compensation to other plaintiffs involved in the case. Goal, however, will not admit responsibility in the decision to suspend the accounts of the former president.
The negotiations to resolve the demand, which had been stagnant since 2023, charged impulse after the target CEO, Mark Zuckerbergwill visit Trump’s residence in Mar-a-lago last November. According to sources cited by the WSJdinner was part of a company strategy to improve its relationship with incoming administration.
The final mediation process took place in January, also in Mar-A-Lago, with the presence of Trump in some key moments. According to him WSJthe then elected president was briefly absent to appear virtually in a case of payment of money from a porn actress, but returned to end the conversations.
The resolution of the goal case adds to other demands that Trump has recently closedin a context in which various US companies have sought to approach their new administration. In December, ABC News agreed to pay 15 million dollars To solve a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump against the chain and the journalist George Stephanopoulos. In addition, Global Paramount He has started conversations to solve another litigation related to an interview conducted to the former vice president Kamala Harris.
Trump’s lawyers have sought to capitalize on this trend. In a separate case against the publisher Simon & Schuster and the journalist Bob Woodwardone of Trump’s lawyers sent a letter to the defendants urging them to follow the example of ABC News.
The demand against goal was presented in July 2021, after Facebook, Twitter and YouTube suspended Trump’s accounts for their publications related to the Assault on the Capitol of January 6 of that year. In his complaint, the president argued that censorship on social networks created “a paralyzing effect” on the political debate and demanded that their accounts be restored without restrictions.
In May 2022, a federal judge dismissed Trump’s similar lawsuit against Twitter, arguing that the First amendment It only protects citizens from restrictions imposed by the Government, not by private companies. The complaint against Google For the suspension of his YouTube account she was filed in 2023, although it could be reopened.
However, Trump’s lawyers managed to prolong the legal battle against goal, requesting in November 2023 that the court allowed them to present a second version of the lawsuit with new elements.
The agreement with goal puts an end to this litigation and marks a new chapter in the company’s relationship with the Trump administration. According to him Wall Street Journalin recent months Goal has also donated 1 million dollars to Trump’s opening fund, in an apparent attempt to repair relations with the new government.
