President Donald Trump has signed an agreement in which Meta would pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit he brought against the company and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, after being suspended from Facebook in 2021 following the January 6 riot.
Trump signed the settlement papers Wednesday in the Oval Office, his attorney John Coale confirmed to Business Insider. He said much of the $25 million settlement paid by Meta would go toward Trump's presidential library.
A Meta spokesperson also confirmed the settlement to BI.
The settlement agreement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal just as Meta was due to report their quarterly earnings. Meta leaders were uncharacteristically late to the call.
Zuckerberg didn't address the settlement but said during the earnings call that this would be a "big year for redefining our relationship with governments."
"We now have a US administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad," Zuckerberg said. "And I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock."
It's the latest in a string of efforts by the company and its CEO to stay in Trump's good graces. Trump had previously threatened to throw Zuckerberg in jail.
Following Trump's election win, Meta donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. Zuckerberg and his wife also attended Trump's inauguration, sitting up front alongside other tech moguls.
Meta isn't alone in its donations to the future Trump library. ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump. Court documents said the money would go toward the president's library.
In addition to Meta, Trump also sued other tech companies in 2021, accusing them of censorship. Meta banned Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts following January 6, citing policy violations, including posting false claims about the 2020 election.
Trump also sued Twitter, now called X, and YouTube, as well as their leaders, for suspending his accounts. A federal judge dismissed Trump's lawsuit against Twitter in 2022. The suit against YouTube appeared to have been "administratively closed" in 2023, according to court records.
