Musk’s X Settles Lawsuit With Trump for $10 Million

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which Elon Musk rebranded X, has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Trump sued the platform in 2021 under its previous ownership, which removed him from Twitter after he inspired the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. According to the Journal, Trump considered dropping the suit after Musk spent about a quarter of a billion dollars to get Trump elected in 2024. The billionaire Republican megadonor reinstated Trump’s account on Twitter shortly after buying the platform in 2022.

After winning the election, Trump appointed Musk to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.” Since that time, Musk and a handful of aides have rejiggered various government departments by making personnel decisions and freezing congressionally appropriated spending. The moves have triggered a spate of lawsuits in which federal judges have sided against Musk, who has responded by suggesting the judges be impeached.

Musk defended his efforts in a joint press conference with Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

The settlement comes just two weeks after Meta agreed to pay Trump $25 million, who sued after Facebook banned him from the platform in response to the Capitol riot. Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged against him, held a rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol where lawmakers were certifying the election.