President Donald Trump has a message for the European Union: stop fining American tech companies, or else. In a fiery post on Truth Social Friday, Trump warned that the EU will "pay a very big price" for what he called "illegal and highly unethical conduct."
The outburst came a day after the European Commission slapped a $1 billion fine on Alphabet Inc.'s Google (GOOGL) for violating the bloc's Digital Markets Act. Regulators ruled that Google gave its own shopping, travel, and other services preferential treatment in search results and blocked app developers from steering users to deals outside its Play Store.
"The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies!" Trump wrote. He didn't stop at Google. He also pointed to a laundry list of EU penalties against other U.S. tech giants: Apple (AAPL) facing $15 billion in fines, Meta (META) at $3 billion, and Amazon (AMZN) at $2.5 billion. Trump claimed Google's total EU fines now exceed $18 billion, though those figures weren't independently verified.
The timing is awkward. Trade tensions between Washington and Brussels had appeared to ease recently, but this penalty adds fresh strain. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer warned a day before Trump's threat that the EU's action against Google could jeopardize the relationship. "The EU often claims that it is looking for stability and predictability in our trading relationship, but these actions are driving massive uncertainty for US exports of goods and services to Europe," Greer said. He added that the EU's moves "pose a real risk to the continuation of transatlantic stability with respect to trade."
Google has 60 days to comply with the Commission's decision or face periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of its total worldwide turnover. Teresa Ribera, the EU's Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, defended the action: "Google has fallen short of effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act, and today we have taken decisive yet balanced enforcement action sanctioning these breaches. The best products should succeed because they're better, not because they're owned by the company running the search engine."
Google's Kent Walker pushed back, calling the ruling "product degradation" driven by a small number of complainants. He argued that regulations should improve products, not weaken them.
Trump didn't just vent—he threatened action. He said the U.S. will "immediately initiate a 301 Investigation into the practice of 'ROBBING' American Companies and, in turn, the American Taxpayer." That's a reference to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the U.S. to retaliate against foreign trade practices deemed unfair. At stake is the so-called Turnberry deal, which caps U.S. tariffs on EU exports at 15%. Trump also blamed the "Sleepy Joe Biden Administration" for allowing the fines to pile up, calling them an "illegal and highly discriminatory practice."
For now, the ball is in the EU's court—but Trump has made it clear he's ready to play hardball.
