Elon Musk’s social media platform X has agreed to pay Donald Trump $10m to settle a lawsuit the president filed against the company.
Twitter - now known as X - banned Trump from its platform following the US Capitol riot on January 6 2021.
At the time, the company argued that his account was "permanently suspended [...] due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
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Trump sued Twitter in response, claiming that he was unfairly silenced and censored by big tech.
Allegedly, the two tweets in question were: one referring to his supporters as 'American Patriots' and claimed they would 'not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape, or form!!!' In the other, Trump announced he would not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
In response, Twitter determined these messages could be seen as endorsing the rioters and would potentially impact the upcoming inauguration.
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That said, the lawsuit was filed against Twitter's previous CEO, Jack Dorsey.
But since Musk took over the platform in 2022 and branded it X, he reinstated Trump’s account and even donated $250 million to his re-election campaign.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Trump’s legal team was considering dropping the case but instead, they worked out a deal that's further solidified their connection.
Details of the agreement were not made public in court filings, but X and Trump have agreed to cover their own legal costs and move on, as per a court filing. This marks the second big social media payout for Trump.
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Just last month, Meta Platforms agreed to pay the President $25 million in a similar lawsuit, alleging unlawful silencing of conservative viewpoints.
Meanwhile, Trump’s attorneys are looking to reach a settlement with Google, which banned him from YouTube after the 2021 Capitol riot, according to the WSJ.
The head of Tesla is also leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a new agency external to the White House tasked with shrinking the federal bureaucracy.
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"It's not optional for us to reduce the federal expenses," Musk stated. "It's essential. It's essential for America to remain solvent as a country."
The SpaceX founder spoke alongside Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday, covering topics such as the 'hostile takeover' of the government, self-policing measures and restoring democracy in the US.
"The people voted for major government reform and that's what the people are going to get," the 53-year-old said. "That's what democracy is all about."