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Donald Trump was asked Tuesday about Google’s antitrust challenges.
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Trump said Google “has a lot of power” but did not say he was in favor of a breakup.
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“We want to have great companies,” he said. “We don’t want China to get these companies.”
Former President Donald Trump addressed Google’s antitrust challenges, criticizing the company and saying it was important for the US to have “great companies.”
The US Department of Justice is considering asking a federal judge to break up Google following a ruling in August that found the company was illegally operating as a monopoly in its search business.
The judge’s specific remedies for the ruling – which Google may appeal – remain to be seen. And while Trump criticized Google in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, he also said he gave them credit for being powerful and declined to say he was in favor of breaking up the company.
When asked: “Should Google be broken up?” Trump said Google has “a lot of power” and that he would “do something about it.”
“They are very bad for me,” he said, claiming the search giant was “rigged” and not showing positive stories about him. He also said he called the head of Google to express his concerns.
But the antitrust issues involving the company are more challenging to consider, Trump said.
“I give them a lot of credit, they’ve become such a power,” Trump said of Google.
“How they became a power is really the debate,” he said. “At the same time, it’s very dangerous because we want to have great companies. We don’t want China to have these companies. Right now, China is afraid of Google.”
He also addressed his evolving position on TikTok, which he initially wanted to ban before joining the app.
“I think everything is a threat,” Trump told Bloomberg about TikTok. “Sometimes you have to endure the threats.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. A Google spokesperson declined to comment.
Big Tech companies often found themselves in Trump’s crosshairs. In September, Trump threatened to sue Google “at the maximum level” if he were elected, saying the company favored Vice President Kamala Harris in its search results – which Google denied.
“Both campaign websites consistently appear at the top of search results for relevant and common searches,” Google said in a statement at the time.
“Questions about the presidential election or candidates generally provide links to ever-changing news articles that reflect what’s on the web – so they are constantly changing,” a Google spokesperson added in an email to BI in September. “We absolutely do not manipulate search results to favor any candidate.”
Trump has also had a long-running feud with Mark Zuckerberg, threatening to jail the Facebook founder in July.
In addition to the antitrust lawsuit involving Google’s search product, the company is facing a separate lawsuit filed by the DOJ and seventeen attorneys general, alleging that it has built a monopoly on its advertising business. Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for late November and the verdict is expected early next year.
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