President Trump has come out swinging against the EU, accusing the block of using regulation and resulting fines as “a form of taxation.”

The EU has become increasingly aggressive in its attempts to regulate tech companies, going far beyond the US on topics like privacy, user choice, data sharing, and more. As a result of that legislation, the EU has levied billions in fines against Apple, Google, Meta, and more.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been particularly vocal in asking that Trump address the EU/Big Tech issue, calling on the President to take action to stop the EU from fining American companies, or make a way for companies to not pay them.

Trump apparently agrees, likening the fines to “a form of taxation,” always a hot topic among Republican lawmakers.

It’s unclear what Trump will or can do to stop the EU, although the threats of tariffs or withholding funding on other fronts may be something he could use as a bargaining chip.

The EU’s Complicated Stance

The EU has set itself apart from the US with its willingness to tackle tough issues, but the bloc is also beginning to gain a reputation for hypocrisy in some circles.

For example, while the is quick to punish companies for failing to uphold user privacy, the bloc has been pushing legislation aimed at creating backdoors in end-to-end encryption (E2EE), allegedly for the purpose of protecting children and cracking down on crime.

While the EU’s goals may be admirable, experts across the scientific, security, and privacy communities have made it abundantly clear that it is not possible to weaken encryption for law enforcement and not weaken it for everyone else. What’s more, any AI-powered or automatic methods of scanning for illegal content inherently comes with risks of false positives.

Despite setbacks, the EU continues to push for its chat control legislation, while simultaneously punishing American tech companies for alleged breaches of privacy.

Eventually, the EU may have to reevaluate its priorities.