News
Meta’s $25M settlement with Trump sparks debate
Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged $25 million to former US President Donald Trump’s presidential library fund and legal fees, sparking controversy and concern over the company’s commitment to free speech and fact-checking.

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.
Remember when Mark Zuckerberg was almost cool?
For five minutes last year, when he was posting shirtless training pics and seemed ready to throw down with Elon Musk in what would’ve been the nerdiest cage match in history? Yeah, those were the days.
But our favorite lizard person is back to his old tricks, and this time, he’s writing checks to the tune of $25 million to none other than the orange man himself.
That’s right, folks. The same Zuck who once stood up to Trump by banning him from Facebook after the whole January 6th situation has now rolled over and opened Meta’s wallet.
Back in 2021, after the whole January 6th Capitol riot situation, Meta (then Facebook) did something that seemed almost brave – they suspended Trump’s accounts.
Trump, being Trump, filed a federal lawsuit claiming First Amendment violations. Because apparently, in Trump’s world, private companies telling you to shut up is the same as the government doing it (spoiler alert: it’s not).
Fast forward to 2025, and Zuck has gone full belly-up.
Meta’s agreed to shell out $25 million to settle the lawsuit, with $22 million conveniently earmarked for Trump’s presidential library fund (because apparently that’s a thing we need), and the remaining $3 mil covering legal fees and other plaintiffs who jumped on the lawsuit bandwagon.
The kicker? Meta’s not even admitting they did anything wrong – they’re just throwing money at the problem like it’s confetti at a tech bros’ wedding.
“How much?” you ask. A cool $22 million is headed straight to Trump’s presidential library fund (apparently, that’s a thing we need), and the remaining $3 mil is going to cover legal fees and throw some bones to other plaintiffs who jumped on the lawsuit bandwagon.
But wait, it gets better.

This comes right after Meta decided to ditch its fact-checking program because who needs truth when you can have “free speech,” am I right?
Zuckerberg called 2025 “a big year for redefining our relationships with governments,” which is corporate-speak for “please don’t regulate us too hard, Mr. President Trump.”
Remember when Zuck was training in MMA, posting videos of himself breaking boards and sparring with legitimate fighters? That guy seemed ready to stand up for something.
But Musk’s constant dodging of the actual fight should’ve been our first clue: these tech bros talk big but fold faster than a lawn chair in a hurricane.
The timing is chef’s kiss perfect too. Meta announced its Q4 numbers, and they’re basically swimming in cash – we’re talking $48.4 billion in revenue and $20.8 billion in profit.
So yeah, $25 million to make Trump happy? That’s basically lunch money for Zuck at this point.
And now we can add this settlement to the growing pile of “Things Mark Zuckerberg Did Instead of Actually Fighting.” Maybe he can use some of that AI tech they’re investing in to generate some backbone next quarter.
The real kicker? ABC News already coughed up $15 million to Trump last month for a similar deal. At this rate, Trump’s presidential library will be funded entirely by media companies trying to stay on his good side.
Plot twist: it’ll probably just be a gold-plated server room filled with deleted Facebook posts and fact-checked tweets.
So here we are, watching the guy who once seemed ready to throw their hands in the octagon now throwing money at the problem instead, from potential cage fighter to corporate appeaser.
Keep in mind that this is Zuckerberg bowing down to a competitor.
Remember, Trump has a stake in the rival Truth Social platform, a social media platform. Do we ever see Mark and Evan Speigal, SnapChat CEO, hanging out? Yeah, same. But I guess Speigal isn’t the leader of the free world.
What’s your take on Zuckerberg’s $25M settlement with Trump? Are we watching the final evolution from potential cage fighter to corporate peacemaker? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News
