U.S. President Donald Trump slammed European Union regulators for targeting Apple, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta, calling the EU’s charges against U.S. companies “a form of taxation.” “Whether you like it or not, these are American companies,” Trump said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “They shouldn’t be doing this. It’s a form of taxation in my opinion. We have a very big problem with the European Union.” Trump specifically mentioned Apple’s loss at the European Court of Justice last year over a 13 billion euro Irish tax bill. The Luxembourg-based EU court upheld a landmark 2016 ruling that Ireland had violated state aid laws by giving Apple an unfair advantage. The comments marked the start of an expected clash between Trump and the European Union over the latter’s tech regulation. The EU is conducting dozens of separate investigations, and Apple, Google, Meta and Trump confidant Elon Musk’s X platform could all face billions of dollars in fines or even forced divestment orders.