![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/69afddc1-dbab-4428-a726-d70f34ca2bfc.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said he will \u201cstand up to countries that attack our incredible American tech companies\u201d.<\/p>\n
Major tech companies including Meta, X and Google have their European bases in Ireland, meaning they fall under the remit of the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).<\/p>\n
\u201cI put all Countries with Digital Taxes, Legislation, Rules, or Regulations, on notice that unless these discriminatory actions are removed, I, as President of the United States, will impose substantial additional Tariffs on that Country’s Exports to the USA,\u201d Mr Trump said in the post.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica, and American Technology Companies, are neither the \u2018piggy bank\u2019 nor the \u2018doormat\u2019 of the World any longer. Show respect to America and our amazing Tech Companies or, consider the consequences!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters.<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – August 26th<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s administration is also considering imposing sanctions on EU or member state officials responsible for implementing the bloc\u2019s landmark Digital Services Act, two sources familiar with the matter said, over US complaints that the law censors Americans and imposes costs on US tech companies.<\/p>\n
Such a move would be an unprecedented action that would escalate the Trump administration\u2019s fight against what it sees as Europe\u2019s attempt to suppress conservative voices.<\/p>\n
Senior state department officials have yet to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the punitive measures that would likely come in the form of visa restrictions, the sources said.<\/p>\n
It was unclear which EU or EU member state officials the action would target, but US officials held internal meetings on the topic last week, according to the sources.<\/p>\n
While trading partners frequently complain about domestic rules they see as unfairly restrictive, sanctioning government officials over such a regulation is extremely rare. The relationship between the Trump administration and the EU is already frayed by tariff threats and tense negotiations as well as US criticism of treatment of US tech companies.<\/p>\n
Citing an internal State Department cable, Reuters this month reported that the Trump administration has instructed US diplomats in Europe to launch a lobbying campaign to build opposition to the Digital Services Act (DSA) in an effort to have it amended or repealed.<\/p>\n
The DSA is meant to make the online environment safer in part by compelling tech giants to do more to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material.<\/p>\n
Washington has said the EU is pursuing \u201cundue\u201d restrictions on freedom of expression in its efforts to combat hateful speech, misinformation and disinformation, and that the DSA is further enhancing these curbs.<\/p>\n
In the directive, secretary of state Marco Rubio ordered US diplomats to regularly engage with EU governments and digital services authorities to convey US concerns about the DSA and the financial costs for US companies.<\/p>\n
In May, Mr Rubio had threatened visa bans for people who \u201ccensor\u201d speech by Americans, including on social media, and suggested the policy could target foreign officials regulating US tech companies.<\/p>\n
A State Department spokesperson did not confirm nor deny Reuters\u2019 reporting on potential punitive action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are monitoring increasing censorship in Europe with great concern but have no further information to provide at this time,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
An EU Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the potential for sanctions, but had previously called censorship claims by the US \u201ccompletely unfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFreedom of expression is a fundamental right in the EU. It lies at the heart of the DSA,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sets out rules for online intermediaries to tackle illegal content, while safeguarding freedom of expression and information online.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has generally moved away from the traditional US promotion of democracy and human rights, instead focusing on trying to clinch bilateral trade deals. But it has been advocating for selective causes, particularly those linked to right-wing politicians and what it sees as a muzzling of conservative voices online.<\/p>\n
Washington imposed sanctions on a Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing the trial of Trump ally and former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro, accusing the judge of authorising arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppressing freedom of expression.<\/p>\n
Most striking has been the administration\u2019s forays into the internal politics of European allies. Trump officials have denounced what they say is suppression of right-wing leaders, including in Romania, Germany and France, and accused European authorities of censoring views such as criticism of immigration.<\/p>\n
Top US officials, including vice-president JD Vance, have repeatedly lashed out at European officials and regulations, accusing them of \u201ccensoring\u201d Americans, a claim the EU rejects.<\/p>\n
In February, at a conference usually known for displays of transatlantic unity, Mr Vance stunned European leaders by accusing them of censoring the speech of groups such as Germany\u2019s right-wing AfD party and backsliding on democracy.<\/p>\n
The EU\u2019s antitrust and tech chiefs told US lawmakers in March that the new tech rule aims to keep digital markets open and is not targeted at US companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said he will \u201cstand up to countries that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,356,4893,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,1543,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-24449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-usa","23":"tag-world","24":"tag-world-news","25":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}