Donald Trump said Tim Cook called him to complain about the European Union’s decision to fine them $17 billion.
“[Cook] said something that was interesting,” Trump said. “He said they’re using that to run their enterprise, meaning Europe is their enterprise. I said, ‘That’s a lot… But Tim, I got to get elected first, but I’m not going to let them take advantage of our companies — that won’t, you know, be happening.’”
Donald Trump has talked with other CEOs, such as META CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Of course, X is facing severe EU fines over free speech, and he and Elon Musk have discussed those. The EU wants to fine X for their free speech and might fine X 6% daily, not just for X’s revenues, but for all his business’s daily revenues.
Kamala Harris is incapable of handling these situation and the EU is on the march to silence and control every country in their sphere.
EU Fines or Taxes
In September, Europe’s top court ruled against Apple in the tech giant’s nearly 10-year court battle over its tax affairs in Ireland.
The case stems from 2016 when the European Commission ordered Ireland to recover up to 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in back taxes from Apple.
The Commission said Apple had received “illegal” tax benefits from Ireland over two decades.
“This case has never been about how much tax we pay, but which government we are required to pay it to. We always pay all the taxes we owe wherever we operate, and there has never been a special deal,” an Apple spokesperson said. “The European Commission is trying to retroactively change the rules and ignore that, as required by international tax law, our income was already subject to taxes in the US.”
The EU decided Apple received nearly $15 billion in tax benefits they shouldn’t have received from Ireland.
And another $1.8 billion
This was not the last time that Apple found itself in the EU’s crosshairs. Most recently, the commission hit Apple with an antitrust fine of 1.8 billion euros in March. It was for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps.
It came after Spotify complained.
Separately, the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act has forced companies to change some of their practices in Europe. The commission has opened various investigations under the DMA into tech giants, including Apple, Alphabet, and Meta.
Watch:
WOAH! President Trump just revealed that Apple CEO Tim Cook called him this morning to discuss outrageous fines imposed on Apple by the European Union.
Trump told Cook he needs to be elected first, but that he will take care of it when he gets back in office. It’s quite telling… pic.twitter.com/ktm9QQzqQV
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) October 17, 2024
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