Yet again, another major corporation has settled a dubious lawsuit brought forth by President Donald Trump.
This time, it was Google bending the knee. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google-owned YouTube has agreed to settle a 2021 lawsuit brought forth by Trump against the video platform over the company’s decision to suspend the president’s YouTube channel in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
YouTube — following in the footsteps of Paramount, Disney, Meta, and X, all of whom have entered into eight-figure settlements with Trump over similarly flimsy lawsuits — will pay $24.5 million to settle the suit, most of which will be “earmarked for the construction of a Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom Trump is building at the White House,” per WSJ.
However, how this case reached a settlement is pretty revealing regarding how the sitting president conducts business. The WSJ‘s Rebecca Ballhaus and Annie Linskey describe the negotiations, which feature a cameo from ESPN College GameDay host Nick Saban playing golf with Trump:
“When top Google executives including Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and co-founder Sergey Brin arrived at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a mediation session in early May, the president chatted amiably with the executives for a few minutes before throwing a curveball, according to people familiar with the conversation. His question: Would they mind moving the conversation over to his nearby golf club? Trump, it turned out, was due to play a round with former football coach Nick Saban.
“After motorcading to the golf club with the president, the Google crew and the lawyers rode in golf carts with Trump for several holes as he played with Saban, and later lunched together on the terrace, according to people familiar with the talks. Back at Mar-a-Lago, Trump left the group, and talks began—for the first time that day—about how to settle the case.”
Trump summoned two of the most powerful executives in tech to Mar-a-Lago, only to drag them to the golf course so he could get some holes in with Saban, before returning to Mar-a-Lago where they finally discussed a settlement which ultimately resulted in Google sponsoring the construction of a fancy ballroom in the White House.
Looking past the legal expert which told the WSJ, “present Supreme Court doctrine is very clear that private companies need not give anyone a right of access,” thus making Trump’s legal argument against YouTube wobbly at best, the reporting highlights just how transactional these negotiations are with Trump. The president simply wanted the Google executives to kiss the ring. Come to my estate. Watch me golf with a famous football coach. Then we’ll talk numbers.
It’s a familiar playbook that has been deployed against numerous tech and media companies since Trump assumed office earlier this year. And it’s yet more evidence that media companies are doing everything in their power to remain on Trump’s good side in a time where the industry is exposed to the regulatory whims of the administration.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.