Meta Will Pay $25M to Settle Trump Lawsuit

Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to President Trump to settle a lawsuit he filed in response to being kicked off the company's platforms the day after the Capitol riot. The company confirmed the settlement to the Wall Street Journal. Sources tell the AP that the settlement includes $22 million toward Trump's future presidential library, with most of the rest going to legal fees. Trump filed lawsuits against Meta and other tech giants in July 2021, accusing them of censoring conservatives. His Facebook and Instagram accounts weren't restored until 2023.

Sources tell the Journal that Trump brought up the lawsuit against Meta, which had been largely stalled for more than a year, when Mark Zuckerberg had dinner at Mar-a-Lago weeks after the election in an attempt to mend fences. The sources say Trump told Zuckerberg that the lawsuit had to be resolved before he could be "brought into the tent." Meta also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.

The settlement won't do much harm to Meta's bottom line: The company reported sharply higher fourth-quarter revenue and profits Wednesday, the AP reports. "We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning," Zuckerberg told investors, per the Washington Post. "And I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock." (More Meta stories.)