Donald Trump Criticizes EU's Google Fine In Tweet

On Wednesday, the European Union’s legislative body levied the largest fine it had ever levied against Google. The search engine and mobile operating system giant was charged with forcing apps on Android users, violating Europe’s antitrust laws in the process. On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump took notice and criticized the decision on Twitter.

Trump lambasted the fine in a tweet, calling Google “one of our great companies.” He also said Europe has “taken advantage of the U.S.” The fine was equal to about $5 billion USD.

Trump’s tweet came just days after he called the EU a “foe” with regards to United States international trade. He said the same of Russia and China in an interview with CBS News, but at the time, he also said it was not necessarily a bad thing. Still, his tweet struck a negative tone towards Europe’s treatment of Google.​

The European Commission slapped the fine on Google for anti-competitive business practices. Google’s Android operating system is the biggest of its kind, but Google reportedly made Android phone makers pre-install apps like the Chrome browser on devices. The commission felt that reduced the level of choice consumers had with regards to search engines and internet browsers on mobile devices.

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager gave an interview to CNBC about the decision. Vestager has a reputation as something of a trust buster, specifically for large tech companies like Google and Facebook. Google will face additional penalties if it does not stop the behavior within 90 days, but the company will appeal the decision.

"This is not about Apple, this is not about Android, this is about Google behavior — a behavior that's illegal for a dominant company because it's locking down competition and disabling innovation and choice that we would all like to enjoy," Vestager told CNBC.