Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has agreed to pay $10 million to U.S. President Donald Trump to settle an old lawsuit against Twitter. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump had sued Twitter and its co-founder, Jack Dorsey, for banning him from the platform in January 2021, after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The $10 million settlement is in addition to the estimated $250 million that Musk reportedly spent on supporting Trump’s election campaign last year.

Elon Musk restored Trump's account and unbanned him after he took over Twitter in 2022. After a two-year prohibition, Trump posted a mug image of himself on Twitter in August 2023. Before reactivating Trump's account, Elon Musk asked users to vote on whether Trump should be allowed to return. “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk had announced, adding, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei”—a Latin phrase that means “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” The poll received 15 million votes and ended with a close result—51.8% supported reinstating Trump, while 48.2% were against it.

Twitter suspended Trump in 2021 due to a pattern of behaviour that went beyond the company's policies. This was among the most severe penalties a social media company has ever imposed on a user. “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” the company had said in a statement as it announced Trump’s ban. 

In addition to Twitter, Facebook and Google also banned Trump from their platforms. Trump responded by taking legal action against all of them. However, in 2022, a judge dismissed his lawsuit. While his case against Google, related to a YouTube ban, is still unresolved, Meta agreed in January to settle with him for $25 million