Elon Musk company X settles Trump lawsuit over deplatforming

Social media company X has agreed to pay about $10 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, who has put X’s billionaire owner Elon Musk in charge of a major government cost- and staff-cutting effort, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Trump had sued X, then known as Twitter, and its then-CEO Jack Dorsey in San Francisco federal court for deplatforming his account following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. Twitter had cited the risk of 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.

Trump claimed Twitter had violated his First Amendment right to free speech.

John Kelly, one of Trump’s attorneys in the lawsuit, confirmed Wednesday that the president and X reached a settlement.

“It’s resolved,” Kelly told CNBC. He said he could not confirm the details of the settlement.

CNBC has requested comment from a lawyer for X.

At the time of the settlement, Trump had been waiting for more than a year for the outcome of an appeal of the dismissal of his lawsuit by a federal district court judge in 2022. On Monday, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a motion by all parties in the case to dismiss that appeal.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on Jan. 29 said it would pay $25 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit over that company’s decision to suspend Trump’s social media accounts after the Capitol riot.

The settlement with X comes as Tesla CEO Musk oversees the Trump administration’s wide-ranging effort to cut federal government spending and staffing levels as the head of DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk, who spent more than $250 million to help Trump win election to a second term in the White House, purchased Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion.

Musk reinstated Trump’s X account in November 2022.