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Trump Blasts EU Regulators for Targeting Apple, Google, Meta (bloomberg.com) 105

Posted by msmash from the time-for-a-payback dept.
US President Donald Trump blasted European Union regulators for targeting Apple, Alphabet's Google and Meta, describing theircases against American companies as "a form of taxation." From a report: The EU has established a reputation globally for its aggressive regulation of major technology companies, often sparring with major social media platforms, such as Facebook and X, over content moderation, and the likes of Apple and Google over antitrust concerns. "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 $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 Blasts EU Regulators for Targeting Apple, Google, Meta More | Reply

Trump Blasts EU Regulators for Targeting Apple, Google, Meta

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  • Ignore the orange moron (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BishopBerkeley ( 734647 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @02:32PM (#65113023) Journal
    Nothing to see here.

    • Re:Ignore the orange moron (Score:4, Interesting)

      by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @02:35PM (#65113033)

      They will ignore him. EU regulators are very unimpressed by some banana-republic potentate criticizing them. Even if it is a large banana-republic. Rule-of-law still means something here.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Pseudonymous Powers ( 4097097 )
        The banana in this particular republic is orange, and nowhere near as large as self-reported.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Well said.

        • A banana with very tiny hands.

      • They will ignore him for now. But in the wider context, the presence of Trump at the White House starts a positive cycle for far-right parties in different parts of the world. As him and Musk move their pieces and advertise themselves in the EU political context (by criticizing the current EU regulators and other things), their presence could influence future elections (by motivating similarly minded Europeans).
        In addition to Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and the coalition governments in Netherlands and Austria

        • As him and Musk move their pieces and advertise themselves in the EU political context... their presence could influence future elections

          It could but the last time I saw this happen in the EU it was in the UK pre-Brexit when Obama visted and stired the pot pointing out how stupid Brexit was and trying to persuade people to think again. The result was an increase in people voting for Brexit. If Trump had been president then and had come over to say how he thought Brexit was a great idea for the UK we'd probably still be in the EU!

          • "I don't like the messenger so therefore I'm going to footgun myself" is a pretty stupid justification for self-inflicted voting wounds.

            But hey, I say that as an American who is watching his country freefall into broligarchy.

          • As him and Musk move their pieces and advertise themselves in the EU political context... their presence could influence future elections

            It could but the last time I saw this happen in the EU it was in the UK pre-Brexit when Obama visted and stired the pot pointing out how stupid Brexit was and trying to persuade people to think again. The result was an increase in people voting for Brexit. If Trump had been president then and had come over to say how he thought Brexit was a great idea for the UK we'd probably still be in the EU!

            Obama has the unfortunate habit of sometimes saying true things that are massively insulting to the people he thinks he's trying to reach. Was Brexit stupid? Yes. Should you lecture people you are trying to communicate with and make them feel like you are calling them stupid for having an idea you disagree with? Turns out, that doesn't really work well. Sadly, the Democratic party hasn't figured that out yet, and we're stuck with the alternative because most people don't like being lectured about how stupid

      • They will ignore him. EU regulators are very unimpressed by some banana-republic potentate criticizing them. Even if it is a large banana-republic. Rule-of-law still means something here.

        Unfortunately it would probably lead to nukes being launched at his command, but I think Donny Boy should be laughed at by leaders of other countries every time he talks. Oh, that would fucking burn his ego. He might even have a coronary. Never thought I'd ask, but what comes first, coronary or nuclear activity?

        • I'm pretty sure there's still a few Joint Chiefs that would tell him to shove his illegal order up his ass if he wanted to nuke someone over his bruised ego.

          Those people took oaths to the Constitution, not to him. And they take that shit very seriously after a lifetime of upholding it.

      • I hope so. This country has elected a narcissistic wannabe despot for the second time. Meanwhile the EU is actually protecting consumers like every real democracy should.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      51% of Americans didn't, unfortunately. I guess trans athletes scares them more than WW3.

      (And no, drilling more US oil won't change grocery prices beyond a fraction of a cent.)

      • 51% of Americans didn't, unfortunately. I guess trans athletes scares them more than WW3.

        (And no, drilling more US oil won't change grocery prices beyond a fraction of a cent.)

        Not to state the blaringly obvious, but it also won't change prices at the pump. Actually, might drive them up because of all of the "new processing methods" and "transportation shifts" that will dig into those billionaires so much that it hurts. "What??!?!?!? $150,000,000 less in earnings this QUARTER? ABSURD! Pass the loss on to the customer. it's so unfortunate, but we have to."
        Next quarter: "Stabilized and saving now. Earning are up $500,000,000. Make sure the prices at the pump stay the same and

      • Technically less thatn 50%. Trump won the most popular votes, but technically not a majority. Because there were enough people voting for someone other than Harris or Trump that he didn't it the 50% mark.

    • Nothing to see here.

      The Oompa Loompa with a genetic defect? Aren't all genetic defects punishable by death from this point forward? Too soon? Sorry. /s

    • Re:Ignore the orange moron (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Zocalo ( 252965 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @04:22PM (#65113375) Homepage
      Better yet, call his bluff. From what he's being saying and signing executive orders on over the last few days neither he nor his advisors have much of a grasp of how things actually work in so many areas, especially when it comes to what the repercussions might be over there if you apply pressure over here. He clearly has no plan on many of these things either; case in point; "I'll end the war in Ukraine on Day #1", yet here we are on Day #4 we finally get "Dear OPEC, please lower the price of oil which will end the war because reasons". That's some plan you have there, Don; I can't wait to see the tantrum when they inevitably give your idea the finger.

      So, let him play with tariffs, trying to deport all the cheap menial labour, releasing a whole bunch of wingnuts back into the population, and so on. Sure, it's akin to locking a toddler in a room with an assortment of sharp objects and other assorted weaponry for a while, but he's going to do far more harm to the US than anyone else and the annoying noises will stop soon enough. Get it right and you might even make the shift away from the reliance on US goods in favour of your own or other economic partners permanent.

  • Rephrased (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 23, 2025 @02:32PM (#65113027)

    EU actually upholds consumer protection laws against mega corps.

    How unfair, *sniffle*

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Creepy ( 93888 )

      Waiting on Trump firing anyone in the DoJ that tries to block antitrust action when X tries to merge with or buy Apple, Meta and Alphabet and puts them under a single banner. Or allows Alphabet to buy Microsoft and Yahoo (for search marketshare to go up to 95%+) and then merge with X when Musk bribes their CEO with $4 trillion in NFTs and gives Trump $2 trillion in kickbacks.

      Hey, if you want REAL mega corps, the right guy is in office, right now.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I didn't ask any government to protect me from Apple or Google or Facebook, did you?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ukoda ( 537183 )
        No, I didn't ask them because it is a basic expectation that my government will try to protect me if things get too out of hand.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Idzy ( 1549809 )
        Goddam right we did. Fuck corporate shills like you

      • ... any government ...

        If you're in the USA, good news, the government won't. In fact, the US government is removing all those pesky departments that pretend to protect you: DoEd, EPA, FCC, NTSB, BCP, CFPB, FDA, NIH, CISA. If you're not in the USA, this is a good reason to immigrate there. Of course, you're a white, Christian, middle-class, 40-something male, right?

  • Apparently the EU does not have the power to levy taxes on business done within its borders.

    Thank God Trump let them know, I suspect personal income tax in the EU will have to spike drastically to make up next year's budget shortfalls.

    • To roll with the framing that the constant fines are a taxation scheme: the EU likes to tax worldwide profits or global turnover, not just money earned in the EU.

  • This is outrageous.

    EU should only tax poor, they should not tax rich. Especially if they are US companies...

  • I demand that American should be able to tell other countries what they can or can't do. In fact, Americans should be able to vote in other countries elections. Citizens of other countries should pay taxes to America, just because of how great America is.
  • Trump got us out of the WHO, now he needs to get us out of the EU!
  • While it is clear from tariffs that Trump doesn't really understand how taxes work I think in this case he know the issue with EU is not really about taxes but is framing it that way for the US based audience in the assumption that they won't take the time to work out what the real issue is. This way he can take actions for the billionaires who have him in their pockets while pretending to right some misjustice.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      While it is clear from tariffs that Trump doesn't really understand how taxes work I think in this case he know the issue with EU is not really about taxes but is framing it that way for the US based audience in the assumption that they won't take the time to work out what the real issue is.

      I still don't understand what the real issue is. I mean, yes, the U.S. doesn't have enough manufacturing, and tariffs might help with that, which is at some vague level a national security win, and as long as China is run by the CCP, allowing such a high percentage of global manufacturing to be within their immediate geographical sphere of potential influence (China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia) is a real risk.

      But requiring them to build things in the U.S. isn't the only way to solve it, and doesn'

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ukoda ( 537183 )
        You have understood the situation pretty well. When Trump talks about tariffs it reminds me of New Zealand in the 1970s. If any company made something in NZ then all imports of the same type of product were them subjected to huge Trump style tariffs. So foreign companies would import all the parts need to make something into the country and have a 'factory' do the final assembly. The end result was a poor selection of over priced products to create a small number of jobs. Basically 3 million people pai

  • Boo hoo. (Score:3)

    by MachineShedFred ( 621896 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @02:58PM (#65113117) Journal

    Apple and Google are free to not do business in the EU if they don't like EU regulations. And I'm sure the EU Parliament is more than happy to give Trump a hearty "how's my ass taste" if he has a problem with it, the same as his government would do to an EU company that has a problem with US Government regulations being applied to them.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      They we should respond with a threat or actual NATO dissolution or create stamp rules to basically cut off the supply of US LNG they are not so utter dependent upon. The EU needs to be reminded they are vassal state.

      Colonialism isn't an event it is a fact you either are colonizing or being colonized. We provide security, that makes us their feudal masters.

      • Re:Boo hoo. (Score:5, Interesting)

        by ukoda ( 537183 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @03:41PM (#65113239) Homepage
        If NATO was dissolved it would be replaced with exactly the same thing the next day, without the USA as a member.

        As the USA retracts to be more inward looking the rest of the world is simply going to adjust to new world where the USA is not longer such big player. I realise in your fantasies that USA will say "Jump" and the rest of the world will say "How high?" but the reality is they will say "Why? We will think about it". Sure the USA can be a pain point for some countries for things like LNG, but exercise such threats and they will respond by finding solutions that remove the risk of dealing with country that is no longer consider a stable partner.

        The trend of not trusting or relying on the USA has been underway for many years now and will accelerate.

        Oh, and just in case you weren't sure, you come across as an asehole. I have friends in the USA, they would be embarrassed to have people like you representing them.

  • Not the brightest orange in the tree... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by coopertempleclause ( 7262286 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @03:02PM (#65113135)
    Know what else is a form of taxation on your own people Donald... tariffs!

  • Easy solution (Score:3)

    by Growlley ( 6732614 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @03:13PM (#65113159)
    they can fuck right off back to America, Of course thwn they dont get Dublin tax rates.

  • No, Fuck 'Em (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DewDude ( 537374 ) on Thursday January 23, 2025 @03:29PM (#65113211) Homepage

    They headquartered outside the US to avoid US taxes.

    They left America. They should be paying us a penalty for doing business.

  • Europe is in the way of him being Kind of the World,
    so he's building consent for military action against them.
    Give it another three weeks and war it will be.
    Slowly at first, then it will quickly escalate to the end of everything.
    A narcissist's end.

  • Someone tell him that Apple is headquartered in Ireland because Tim Cook doesnâ(TM)t like paying taxes for all the services Apple gets from the US government.

  • If this is how Trump expects to play it, the advert is simple: divest these corporations from operating within the borders of the EU - like he originally wanted to do to TikTok (until he flipped 180 on that - he canâ(TM)t even be strong on his own policies)

    Stop Google (US), Meta (US), and Apple (US) from operating within EU states. Give those nations time and opportunity to create their own alternatives, or allow each of these companies to create entities that exist within these nations and are beholde

  • After talking about finishing the war in Ukraine in a day Putin's going to draw him into months of fruitless negotiations. Now Apple, Alphabet and Meta will be given an even bigger slapping by the EU regulators as a result of his intervention. He's going to look rather weak early on in his Presidency.

    • A day. 100 days. I'll cut off Ukraine and they'll negotiate.

      Now suddenly it's, "I'll break Russia with sanctions if they don't negotiate soon". Like Trump finally realized as POTUS Putin no longer has any hold over him. This could get fun.

  • The US can impose levies on China, Mexico, Canada and just about anyone else... but the EU can't do it on US corporations???

  • Taxes shouldn't be imposed on individual companies just because they're successful. This is a form of tall poppy syndrome [wikipedia.org], which is probably one reason so many of the big tech companies are from the US; EU companies would have been massacred before they got that big.

    Don't think these are taxes? They are fines levied at the most successful US companies. In the case of Apple and Google at least, it's clear that the fines are because they are 'too competitive'.

    Why is Trump pointing out these 'taxes'? He's

    • ... they're successful.

      How about demanding I don't have to pay taxes. You're declaring US-owned corporations have more rights. This is straight-up fascism.

      ... they got that big.

      "That big" is why a few billionaires can use ownership of media to decide who can speak in the USA and who is 'cancelled'. It's why it hasn't happened in other countries and the rest of the world, plans on keeping it that way.

      ... 'too competitive'.

      Meaningless buzzword proves you're/they're the victim: Nope, not believing you.

      ... free trade

      You misspelt "deregulation".

      ... a chance to correct ...

      No, he's demanding dozens of countries canc

  • ... Apple, Alphabet's Google and Meta ...

    Microsoft didn't pay the Trump tax. Given their history, I can't call it a demonstration of moral principles. Let's call it, refusing to bow to the competition.

    .... some very big complaints ...

    The EU is self-sufficient: That US-made silicon that drives world economy, the tools for making the silicon come from the EU. No, EU-made tools, no US-made technology. Let's see how far the US empire extends, when the EU isn't helping.

    Trump will find "because I said so", isn't effective outside the USA. He got laughed off the podium when he t

  • trump F%ck off

  • Suck it orange jello baby. And try to obey the law.

  • Isn't that similar to US regulations targeting TikTok?
  • I heard two people talking at work about how good Trump's ideas were. Complaining about higher grocery bills, which is a legitimate gripe for many people. I asked which two industries hire the most illegal immigrants?
    *blank stare*
    I postulated that it was the construction and agricultural industries.(though hospitality may also rank up there)
    *blank stare*
    I then asked what do they think will happen when farmers can no longer pay illegal immigrants below legal wages to pick fruits/veggies for sale in the

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