President Trump has attacked the European Union for the $5 billion fine it has slapped on US tech giant Google this week.
Trump took to Twitter (surprise!) to attack the EU and praise Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) on Thursday morning:
I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
The EU accuses Google of using Android -- the mobile operating system in over 80% of the world's smartphones -- to cement the dominance of its Chrome browser, cutting app bundling deals with phone vendors. (See Google Facing 'Multi-Billion Fine' From EU Over Android – Reports and Eurobites: EU Socks Google With $5B Monster-Fine for Android Control-Freakery.)
Trump's "I told you so!" appears to reference his accusation last Sunday that the EU is an economic "foe." It is not clear, however, from the tweet, what actions the Trump administration might take against the fine.
Google has already said it will appeal the fine.
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading