Elon Musk’s X has agreed to pay Donald Trump about $10m (£8m) after suspending his accounts following the 2021 US Capitol riot by his supporters, according to reports.
The payment follows a $25m (£20m) deal the US president’s lawyers struck with Meta Platforms – the owner of Facebook and Instagram – last month.
Mr Trump sued the social media platforms, along with Google’s owner Alphabet Inc, as well as their chief executives, in San Francisco over what he claimed was unlawful silencing of conservative opinions, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Twitter had cited the risk of Mr Trump inciting further violence related to his effort to remain in the White House following his loss to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 election as the reason for suspending his account.
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Mr Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X, has become a fierce supporter of Mr Trump, giving $250m (£202m) to his 2024 election campaign.
The tech billionaire has been chosen by the president to head the new US Department of Government Efficiency – shortened to DOGE – whose purpose is to radically shrink federal bureaucracy.
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Mr Trump’s legal team considered dropping the case given the platform’s change of ownership and how close the two men have become, before agreeing to the settlement, the Journal reported – quoting people familiar with the matter.
Lawyers are expected to pursue a similar agreement with Alphabet, which banned Mr Trump from YouTube after the Capitol riot.
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Neither the X, nor its CEO at the time of Mr Trump’s suspension, Jack Dorsey, as well as Alphabet and the White House have responded to requests for comment.
Mr Trump has pardoned about 1,500 supporters charged over the violence on 6 January 2021, which saw people storm the Capitol building in Washington to try to stop Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory being signed off.
Sky News has contacted X for comment.
