Lately, the big US tech companies have had their noses snapped with a rolled-up newspaper by EU regulators for their anti-trust antics, and it seems that the likes of Google, Apple, X and Meta have asked Trump to defend their business models.

However, Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos that this sort of thing was not permitted because the people involved were his chums and had given him a lot of money it unfairly targeted US companies.

"These are American companies whether you like it or not. They shouldn't be doing that. That's, as far as I'm concerned, a form of taxation. We have some very big complaints with the EU."

Trump referenced a court case that Apple lost last year over a $14.4 billion Irish tax bill. The EU's Court of Justice in Luxembourg backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid law by giving Apple an unfair advantage, requiring Ireland to claw back the money sitting in an escrow account pending the final ruling.

It appears that this is setting a somewhat dangerous bar, with American companies able to do what they like while European and other companies cannot.  

Trump seems to hope that he can impose tariffs on other countries to make them do what he says. While that would create a mess for Europe, it might also force them to take their trade elsewhere and continue to hammer big US tech companies.

So far, there has been no response from the EU, but it is unlikely to sling its hook.