US President Donald Trump yesterday (19 July) criticised the European Union over a record $5 billion fine EU antitrust regulators imposed on Google, saying the bloc was taking advantage of the United States.

EU officials on Wednesday also ordered Google to stop using its popular Android mobile operating system to block its rivals, adding to trade tensions between Washington and Brussels.

EU keeps Google on the hook following record fine of €4.34 billion The European Commission slapped Google on Wednesday (18 July) with a record fine of €4.34 billion for abusing its dominant position and said it would continue to investigate as a “top priority” Google’s other businesses for possible additional breaches of market rules. The company said it would appeal.

Trump took to Twitter over the decision: “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 US, but not for long!”

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

In an interview aired on Sunday by CBS, Trump labeled the EU a “foe” with regard to trade.

On eve of Russia summit, Trump calls EU 'a foe' On the eve of his meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump rattled allies once more by labeling the European Union a “foe” with regard to trade.

Two former antitrust enforcers said it was unusual but not unheard of for officials to comment on decisions by enforcers in other jurisdictions.

“This is totally counterproductive. Whether or not you like the result, this is law enforcement in Europe and we wouldn’t like anyone interfering with law enforcement in the US,” said Gene Kimmelman, a Justice Department veteran now with advocacy group Public Knowledge. “I see it doing no good for Google or anyone else.”

Donald Trump is attacking the European Union once again. This time because they fined Google $5 billion for anti-trust. Someone tell this guy our companies need to play by the rules established by other governments when selling products in other countries. https://t.co/EU16f4X8QY — James Kosur (@JamesKosur) July 19, 2018

William Kovacic, a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission who teaches at the George Washington University Law School, agreed it was unusual but not unheard of.

In 2015 former President Barack Obama said in an interview with Recode that the EU was sometimes “more commercially driven than anything else” in its probes of US tech companies, including Google.

In 1997, former Vice President Al Gore took up the cudgel against the EU on behalf of a planned merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, saying that the United States was “watching the outcome of their (EU) deliberations extremely carefully,” the New York Times reported at the time. The deal closed in August 1997.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House next Wednesday to discuss trade and other issues.

Juncker to meet Trump in Washington on 25 July European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on 25 July in an attempt to repair the strained relations between the transatlantic allies.

Google said it would appeal against the EU decision. The 4.34 billion euro ($5 billion) fine is nearly double the previous penalty that the company was ordered to pay last year, but it represents a little more than two weeks of revenue for its parent company, Alphabet Inc.

Juncker said that during the G7 meeting in Canada on 10 June Trump called him “a brutal killer”.

Trump told me "You're a brutal killer", Juncker says Jean-Claude Juncker has been called many things during his premiership of Luxembourg and presidency of the European Commission, but probably never what he says US President Donald Trump called him at the weekend: “a brutal killer”.

“It is the first time Luxembourg has become such a danger to the United States. I think he meant it as a compliment, but I am not sure”, Juncker said.