Zuckerberg paid $25 million, Musk dropped $10 million — now Trump sets sights on Google's Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai
. With multi-million-dollar settlements from Meta and X, Trump's legal team appears to be targeting YouTube's parent company. The pressure is increasing, and a settlement could be next.
Why is Donald Trump going after Sundar Pichai now?
Donald Trump is reportedly in settlement talks with Google CEO Sundar Pichai over a lawsuit stemming from YouTube's suspension of Trump's account.
Following Donald Trump's victory last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made an effort to minimize the groveling among social media titans. Unlike Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, he did not appoint Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a personal buddy of the incoming president, to his board of directors or appear on podcasts endorsing the virtues of "masculine energy."
He also did not openly express his straight-man "love" for Trump or go to work in the White House. Unlike Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, Pichai never sent out a notification to all app users, thanking Trump for his efforts.
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Instead, there was the obligatory $1 million Google payment to Trump's inaugural fund, a quick trip to Mar-a-Lago, and the stoic appearance as a background prop during the ceremony in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, as per a report by The Atlantic.
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In 2021, Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, Pichai, and the former CEO of Twitter, which Musk later acquired and rebranded as X, for limiting his accounts following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
What's the lawsuit really about?
The president claimed that the businesses and CEOs had violated his First Amendment rights by unlawfully censoring him at the behest of American political officials. It was a sarcastic statement from a politician who frequently uses threats from the government to settle political disputes.
In their postelection courtships of Trump, Elon Musk contributed an additional $10 million after Zuckerberg settled his lawsuit with a $25 million payout, primarily to Trump's presidential library fund.
Briefs filed in a federal court in San Francisco shortly after Memorial Day that seem to have gone unnoticed by the public indicate that attorneys for President Trump and Pichai have started "productive discussions" regarding the next steps of the case against YouTube, "with additional discussions anticipated in the near future." The parties have requested that the judge provide them till September 2 to agree on a course of action, as quoted in a report by The Atlantic.
More than Trump's legal skills or the strength of his case, the fact that the negotiations are taking place at all speaks to his extraordinary use of presidential authority.
The entire scenario is confusing, as President Trump has demonstrated that he can effectively utilize his elected office's authority to pressure private firms into paying civil lawsuits, even when the lawsuits are based on claims that the companies violated the law by giving in to pressure from politicians like him.
Donald Trump has used his office to target political opponents' speech at law firms, universities, and uncooperative media outlets like the Associated Press, demonstrating the incoherence of his First Amendment stance.
At the same time, he has condemned the notion that the government should ever attempt to censor the speech of his political allies. He brushes off the discrepancy when it is brought out.
Will Google settle like Meta and X did?
Sundar Pichai might potentially receive a favorable verdict if he decides to take Trump to court. If Google wins the case, it might lose more money than it would if it gave up and donated eight figures to Trump's presidential library.
FAQs
Is Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, expected to reach an agreement with Trump?
Negotiations are currently underway, but no agreement has been reached. As with Zuckerberg and Musk, Pichai may face pressure to settle.
What was Donald Trump's original lawsuit against big tech?
Donald Trump sued several tech CEOs for allegedly censoring him after January 6, citing First Amendment violations.
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