★ Private Action
Meta pays $22M to Trump library to settle Facebook ban suit
Filed January 2025$25,000,000
★ The Brief
What happened
Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit over the suspension of Donald Trump's Facebook account after January 6, with $22 million directed to a fund for his planned presidential library and the rest split among other plaintiffs.
Who enabled it
Deal or steal?
Meta's payment went to the same presidential-library fund other companies settling with Trump have funded: ABC News paid $15 million and Paramount $16 million. Meta had also donated $1 million to his inauguration.
★ Cast your vote
Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit filed by Donald Trump and others who claimed their Facebook accounts were unlawfully shut down or blocked at the urging of the U.S. government following the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Of the total, $22 million is directed to a fund supporting the construction of Trump's presidential library, while $3 million is split among four named plaintiffs in the suit. The settlement followed direct negotiations between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Trump, with Trump's lawyer John Coale present. The suit had been filed in Florida as a class action but was never certified as such, meaning no portion flows to general Facebook users.
Further reading
- ★ Private ActionJanuary 2025Meta donates $1M to Trump inauguration amid admin outreach
- ★ Private ActionOctober 2025Corporations pledge funding for Trump's $300M White House ballroom
- ★ Government ActionSeptember 2025Florida Cabinet transfers $66M Miami parcel to Trump library foundation
- ★ Private ActionJuly 2025Paramount pays Trump $16M to settle CBS 60 Minutes lawsuit
- ★ Government ActionJuly 2025Qatar donates luxury Boeing 747 to U.S. defense department
- ★ Government ActionJune 2025Air Force pulls Qatar jet retrofit funds from Sentinel ICBM program