President Trump blasts EU regulators for targeting Apple, other Big Tech firms

U.S. President Donald Trump makes a special address remotely to the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump criticized European Union regulators for targeting Apple, Alphabet subsidiary Google, and Meta Platforms, labeling their actions against American firms as “a form of taxation.” The EU is known worldwide for its stringent, some say over-, regulation of tech giants, frequently taking aim at companies like Apple and Google on antitrust issues, and with social media giants like X and Meta over so-called “moderation” policies.

Lynn Doan and Samuel Stolton for Bloomberg News:
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“These are American companies whether you like it or not,” Trump said in comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “They shouldn’t be doing that. That’s, as far as I’m concerned, a form of taxation. We have some very big complaints with the EU.”

Trump specifically referenced a court case that Apple lost last year over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill. The EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid law by giving Apple an unfair advantage, requiring Ireland to claw back the money that had been sitting in an escrow account pending the final ruling.

Trump’s comments mark the beginning of a long-anticipated clash between Trump and the EU over the bloc’s big tech crackdown. Apple, Google, Meta and the X platform owned by Trump confidant Elon Musk may all be facing billions in fines — or even mandatory divestment orders — from dozens of separate ongoing EU investigations.

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MacDailyNews Note: In October, President Trump said that Apple CEO Tim Cook called him to complain about the EU’s $17 billion in fines against the company.

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