Donald Trump has announced his intention to receive a significant payout from YouTube.
The former president filed a lawsuit against YouTube after his account was suspended in the wake of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Other individuals involved in the lawsuit, as disclosed in a court filing, include the American Conservative Union, Andrew Baggiani, Austen Fletcher, Maryse Veronica Jean-Louis, Frank Valentine, Kelly Victory, and Naomi Wolf.
Trump plans to allocate the funds he receives from the settlement into a tax-exempt entity known as the Trust for the National Mall.
Trump, who has a distinctive style in home decor reminiscent of ‘if King Midas walked into the Palace of Versailles and sneezed’, already has ideas on how to utilize the substantial payout.
He aims to use it for the construction of the White House Ballroom, a project he has been vigorously promoting, especially following the incident involving far-right podcaster Charlie Kirk.
YouTube has agreed to pay out approximately $24.5 million to resolve the lawsuit initiated by Trump and others over his 2021 suspension. From this amount, $22 million will go to Trump, while the remaining $2.5 million will be distributed to the other plaintiffs.
Despite the substantial payout, the $22 million from YouTube is just a fraction of the estimated $200 million cost of the ballroom project.
The lawsuit stems from Trump’s suspension following the violent events at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, carried out by his supporters.
On that day, thousands of his supporters breached the Capitol, roamed the chambers, and even erected makeshift gallows outside the building, sending a menacing message.
One striking image from the event showed a supporter carrying the Confederate Battle Flag inside the Capitol.
After these events, YouTube suspended Trump’s account, though it was restored two years later to ensure voters could ‘hear equally from major national candidates in the run-up to an election’.
Trump contended that the suspension violated his ‘constitutional right of free speech’.
YouTube isn’t the first company to reach a settlement with Trump regarding the suspension of his accounts after the insurrection.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, settled with Trump in January, contributing $22 million to his presidential library and covering $3 million in legal fees.
In February, X, led by Trump’s sometimes ally Elon Musk, reportedly paid $10 million to resolve a lawsuit, according to the Wall Street Journal.