Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Trump said in a recent interview that he received a call from Apple CEO Tim Cook, who expressed his concerns about the EU's punishment of Apple.
With less than three weeks left until the US presidential election, Trump and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Harris have been frequently interviewed in recent times, trying to win more voters in the final period.
In an interview aired on Thursday, Trump said, "Two hours ago, three hours ago, he (Cook) called me. He said, 'The EU just fined us $15 billion.' In addition, the EU has fined them $2 billion
Last month, Apple lost a long-standing legal lawsuit with the European Union, forcing the company to pay up to 13 billion euros (approximately $14.08 billion) in taxes to Ireland.
In March of this year, the European Commission fined Apple 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the music streaming app distribution market. This is the first anti-monopoly fine imposed by the European Union on Apple, and Apple subsequently filed a lawsuit in late May to overturn this ruling.
According to Trump's account on the show, he told Cook after receiving a call, "Tim, I have to be elected first, but I won't let them take advantage of our company. This won't happen
The 2024 US presidential election will be held on the 5th of next month, and current polls show that Trump and Harris are evenly matched.
Tech giants have always been a key target of EU regulatory agencies' attention. Last month, the European Union also demanded that Apple improve the compatibility of its operating system with third-party devices and applications, otherwise it may face huge fines.