US judge to lawyers of Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Donald Trump: Give 'substantive plan' to settle lawsuit

A judge has reportedly demanded a public update on US President Donald Trump's "de-platforming" lawsuit against YouTube and Sundar Pichai, the CEO of its parent company,

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. The two sides have been in private negotiations for the past four months, but US District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers recently rejected their request for more time, a report claims. She has now ordered the parties to file a public update by September 29 and scheduled a public videoconference for October 6 to discuss “a substantive plan” for resolving the case. In her recent order (as seen by Business Insider), Rogers wrote: “The parties have failed to provide the Court with sufficient substantive information regarding resolution of this action.”

What Donald Trump’s attorney said about the judges' order

In a statement to Business Insider, referring to Judge Rogers’ order, Trump attorney, John Q Kelly said: “She's holding our feet to the fire a little.” However, he confirmed that settlement talks are ongoing while declining to share any details. Kelly, who is representing Trump in a private capacity, said he anticipates the parties will provide an update on their settlement talks in the filing due September 29.

“We will give her a conclusive update or have a resolution by then,” Kelly added.Judge Rogers has already postponed the deadline twice for an initial case management conference between the plaintiffs and YouTube over the past four months, after the parties informed her in May — through a joint letter written by Kelly — that they were engaged in “productive discussions regarding next steps.”Trump and several other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union and author Naomi Wolf, sued YouTube and Pichai for damages and other relief over account suspensions following the Capitol riot in January 2021. At that time, Trump sued multiple social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, for banning his accounts after the Capitol riot, claiming free speech violations. The case moved to California after an initial ruling that private companies aren’t bound by constitutional free speech protections. Over time, Musk lifted Trump’s ban on X and settled for $10 million, while Meta restored Trump’s accounts and Zuckerberg settled for $25 million.