Trump Threatens Countries Failing to Show Him ‘Respect’ in Deranged Late-Night Meltdown
The president is making unclear but aggressive threats about new taxes on digital services in other countries. Former President Donald Trump spoke at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on October 29, 2024, during a press event where he also talked about his campaign.
Trump, who strongly supports tariffs, recently posted an angry message on his social media platform, Truth Social. In it, he warned that he might place heavy tariffs and stop the export of U.S. computer chips to countries that tax American technology companies. He claims that these digital taxes are unfair and designed to harm U.S. businesses like Apple, Google, and Meta.
He said that if countries do not remove these taxes, he will take serious action against them. He also criticized the way these taxes often ignore large Chinese tech companies, saying this is unfair to the United States.
Trump added that the U.S. and its technology companies should not be treated as an easy source of money or as a country that can be walked over. He demanded that other nations show respect or face consequences.
Although he did not name any specific countries, his comments seem to target the European Union. The EU has laws like the Digital Markets Act, which are meant to stop big tech companies from having too much control over the market.
His warning came shortly after the U.S. and the EU agreed to negotiate on what the U.S. calls unfair trade rules against American tech companies. Both sides also agreed not to add new customs charges on electronic services.
In June, Canada had planned to tax the earnings of U.S. tech companies in their country. This tax would have been 3 percent on revenues above \$20 million. But after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian imports, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney canceled the plan only hours before the tax was set to take effect. Trump called this tax a direct attack on the United States.
According to the White House, Canada’s decision to back down showed that Trump’s threats were effective. The tax had originally been proposed in 2020 but was delayed and eventually dropped after pressure from Trump.
