Trump is re-kissing Big Tech’s ass at Davos

Countries around the world have been eagerly awaiting the return of Donald Trump. This week, as Trump repositioned himself in the White House, the new president also appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where his foreign policy goals began to emerge. First order of business? Declaring (economic) war on Europe, I think.

In Davos, when asked where he stood on the European Union, Trump took the opportunity to blast America’s allies for being so aggressive in punishing American tech companies for breaking the law.

“They took court cases with Apple, and they supposedly won a case that most people didn’t think was a big case,” Trump said. “They won 15 or 16 billion from Apple. They won billions from Google. I think they’re after Facebook for billions and billions and billions. These are American companies, whether you like them or not. They’re American companies and they shouldn’t do that. As far as I’m concerned, this A form of taxation.”

“We have some very big complaints with the European Union,” Trump concluded. Plans to impose a large tariff On European countries if they refuse to buy American-made products.

Unlike America – where the legislature was largely the government Shared by special interests Meant to regulate – Europe has a relatively functional legislature that, at times, is responsive to the interests of the public. In recent years, the European Union has passed a number of designed date bills Institute for Reasonable Regulations On the American technology platforms that dominate the Internet. As such, Trump is right: Europe is hitting US tech platforms with massive fines for their violations of those applicable laws. Apple was recently fined $2.7 billion by EU regulators, while Meta was recently fined about $840 million for antitrust violations. Apple is also currently owed something Like $14 billion in back taxes. diverse Regulatory investigations The tech giants are continuing and it is plausible that more fines are on the horizon.

Now, with Trump back in the White House thanks, in part, to money from Silicon Valley, it makes sense that the big tech platforms currently suffering from European regulatory scrutiny will come to an end. As tech executives line up Schmooze with the president, that’s certainly what companies like Apple, Meta, and Amazon are hoping for.

However, the MAGA movement and its various allies are trying The attack and the remaking of Europe For nearly a decade. Right-wing libertarian organizations with ties to Trump have long sought… Cultivate relationships with European leadersin an attempt to inform their policies and push traditionally leftist governments to the right.

During the first Trump administration, Maja Acolyte Steve Bannon headed to Europe, trying to bring “populist” politics to the Old World. To do this, Bannon bought an old Italian monastery and transformed it into what he called it “Gladiator School”, “ Or, more dramatically, an “Academy for the Judeo-Christian West.” The idea was that the monastery would serve as a breeding ground for political parties that could sweep away the established order in Europe and lead to a new kind of right-wing politics. Bannon expressed, who was eager The desire to destroy the European Union, He claimed that he wanted to fight for the common man, European identity and, of course, the free market.

Despite the theatrics, Bannon’s effort was spot on Largely unsuccessful. Some political parties formed as part of Bannon’s “movement”. It has been solved The “Gladiator” monastery at Bannon saw little use, having been attached Through constant lawsuits and legal problems.

In recent months, Elon Musk has tried to step into Bannon’s shoes and has sought to use his global propaganda platform, X, to seed his uniquely inherited brand of right-wing politics in Europe. Like Bannon’s efforts, Musk’s propaganda appears to be (mostly) failing. A recent poll found that in the UK, where Musk has been consistently attacking the country’s prime minister, The tech billionaire was more popular than Meghan Markle. Another poll found that Musk’s popularity… Very low in Germanyas he was trying to promote a far-right political party associated with neo-Nazis.