Trump’s new business ventures include receiving tens of millions of dollars from YouTube.
The site, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, is the latest tech giant to settle with Trump after he sued him over the aftermath of his supporters’ January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol and the widespread deletion of his social media accounts, the AFP reported on Tuesday.
The $22 million will go toward Trump’s latest White House construction project and the construction of a reception hall in the building, according to the outlet.
YouTube also agreed to pay $2.5 million to a number of Trump allies, including the American Conservative Union.
After Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election and the events of January 6, tech giants removed Trump’s accounts for fear of inciting violence by spreading lies about election fraud.
YouTube on January 12, 2021, citing “concerns about the potential for violence.” The move was in line with measures taken by Facebook and Twitter to block Trump from posting after the events of January 6.
The 79-year-old Republican took the social media giants and YouTube to court, claiming they were wrongly censored.
Legal experts have called Trump’s claims against the tech giants shaky at best, noting that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government, not private companies, from restricting free speech.
However, tech and media companies have been giving Trump the green light to compromise since his return to power.
In February, Elon Musk’s X-Company settled a lawsuit with Trump against the company and its former CEO, Jack Dorsey, for about $10 million.
In January, a few days after Trump’s inauguration, Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the 2024 election winner, $22 million of which will go toward funding the Trump presidential library.