Countries around the world are eagerly awaiting the return of Donald Trump. This week, as Trump took back his position in the White House, the new president also appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where his foreign policy goals began to be seen. The first order of business? Declaring (economic) war on Europe, I think.

In Davos, when asked about his position in relation to the European Union, Trump took the opportunity to blast America’s allies for being angry at punishing US technology companies for breaking the law.

“They took Apple court cases and they supposedly won a case that a lot of people didn’t think was a case,” Trump said. “They won 15 or 16 billion from Apple. They won billions from Google. I think they’re after Facebook for billions and billions. These are American companies, whether you like them or not. They’re American companies. and they don’t have to do that. As far as I know, that’s a form of tax.

“We have some major grievances with the EU,” Trump concluded, while also doubling down on his own plan to impose large tariffs in European countries if they refuse to buy products made in America.

Unlike America-where the legislative body of government is common co-opted by special interests it is supposed to regulate—Europe has a relatively functional legislature that, at times, proves responsive to the public interest. In recent years, the EU has passed a number of landmark bills designed to make reasonable regulations of the US tech platforms that dominate the internet. That being said, Trump is right: Europe has hit American tech platforms with huge fines for their violations of established laws. Apple was recently hit with a $2.7 billion fine by EU regulators, while Meta was recently fined around $840 million for antitrust violations. Apple also now has Irish debt like $14 billion in back taxes. different regulatory probes The tech giants are moving forward and more fines are likely on the horizon.

Now, with Trump back in the White House thanks, in part, to money from Silicon Valley, it makes sense that the big tech platforms currently suffering European regulatory scrutiny want it to end. As tech CEOs line up to mingle with the president, it’s certainly what companies like Apple, Meta, and Amazon are hoping for.

As such, the MAGA movement and its various allies strive attack and remake Europe for almost a decade. Rightwing libertarian organizations with ties to Trump have long sought develop relations with European leadersin an effort to publicize their policies and push traditionally leftist governments further to the right.

During the first Trump administration, MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon headed to Europe, in an attempt to bring his “populist”-style politics to the Old World. To do this, Bannon bought an old monastery in Italy and transformed it into what he called a “gladiator school,” or, more spectacularly, an “academy for the Judeo-Christian West.” The idea was that the monastery would serve as a breeding ground for political parties that would overthrow the established order in Europe and create a new type of right-wing politics. Bannon, who has long since revealed a desire to destroy the EU, says he wants to fight for the common man, European identity, and, of course, the free market.

Despite the theatrics, Bannon’s efforts worked most did not succeed. Some of the political parties that were established as part of Bannon’s “movement”. broke up and Bannon’s “gladiator” monastery is useless, tied up through ongoing lawsuits and legal trouble.

In recent months, Elon Musk has tried to step into Bannon’s shoes and intends to use his global propaganda platform, X, to sow his own, uniquely moronic brand of rightwing politics in Europe. . Like Bannon’s efforts, however, Musk’s propaganda seems to have (mostly) failed. A recent poll found that, in the UK, where Musk regularly attacks the country’s prime minister, the tech billionaire is more unpopular than Megan Markle. Another poll found Musk’s popularity relatively low in Germanywhere he tried to promote a far-right political party associated with neo-Nazis.