Quick overview

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US President Donald Trump threatened to launch an investigation into the organization that might lead to new tariffs after the European Union fined Alphabet.

Trump issued his warning in a social media post on Friday following the EU’s announcement that it was fining Google nearly €3 billion ($3.5 billion) and ordering the search giant to stop favoring its own advertising technology services.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, “This is on top of the many other fines and taxes that have been issued against Google and other American tech companies, in particular.” As I have stated previously, my administration will not tolerate these discriminatory practices. They are extremely unfair, and the American taxpayer will not tolerate it.”

He has long criticized Europe for fining US tech companies, and earlier this month, he threatened to levy “substantial” tariffs on nations that impose digital taxes, rules, or regulations that harm US businesses. According to the US president, the subject of digital taxes and penalties was discussed during a dinner at the White House on Thursday night with prominent tech executives, including Sundar Pichai of Alphabet and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta.

Google has abused its dominance by giving its own ad exchanges a competitive advantage and must end these practices, according to the European Commission, which said in a statement Friday that “when markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power.”

The company immediately vowed to appeal, stating that “a fair playing field, where everyone competes on equal terms and citizens have a genuine right to choose,” is what true freedom means. Google’s vice president, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said the move “imposes an unjustified fine and requires changes that will hurt thousands of European businesses by making it harder for them to make money.”