Musk’s X settles 2021 lawsuit brought by President Trump for $10 million

Elon Musk’s social media platform agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump after his Twitter account was deplatformed following the January 6, 2021 events at the U.S. Capitol.

Musk, who now oversees Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), purchased Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion and eventually rebranded it as X. He reinstated Trump’s account in 2022 but Trump had already sued Twitter and its then-CEO Jack Dorsey in San Francisco federal court in 2021.

The president has been waiting on an appeal after a U.S. district judge dismissed the lawsuit in May 2022 but X reportedly agreed to pay $10 million to settle the lawsuit, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Details of the agreement were not made public in court filings, but X and Mr. Trump notified the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that they had agreed to dismiss the lawsuit. Both parties agreed to pay their own costs, according to a court filing,” the New York Times reported.

“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them—specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter—we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter announced in 2021, explaining its decision.

Trump filed his lawsuit accusing the social media platform of violating his First Amendment rights.

After the reported settlement, John Kelly, one of Trump’s attorneys in the case told CNBC, “It’s resolved.”

The latest win for the president comes on the heels of other lawsuits being settled in his favor.

“Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, settled its lawsuit last month, agreeing to pay the president $25 million,” the Times reported. “In December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit by Mr. Trump. ABC News said it would donate the money to Mr. Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum.”

Frieda Powers

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