Last week, Trump casually mentioned to Fox’s Maria Bartiromo that “Google has to be careful” because “they’ve been very irresponsible.” He added, “I have a feeling Google is going to be close to shut down because I don’t think Congress is going to take it.”
In typical Trump fashion, he made this statement after noting that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had called him following the assassination attempt, while “nobody called from Google.” It’s tempting to dismiss this as classic transactional Trump rhetoric—especially since he was calling Facebook “the enemy of the people” as recently as March before backtracking on banning TikTok. One phone call and a “badass” comment, and it seems you’re back in his good graces.
Trump’s threat to Google seems driven by political strategy, perceived bias, regulatory goals, and personal feelings. He often accuses tech companies, like Google, of being biased against conservatives, claiming they manipulate search results to hurt conservative voices. He’s also pushed for stricter rules on big tech and may be using threats to pressure these companies to change their ways or support new regulations.
Additionally, bold statements against powerful companies can energize his supporters and attract media attention. Criticizing big tech helps him appeal to voters who feel left out or distrustful of large corporations. Personal grievances are also a factor; Trump mentioned that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called him after an assassination attempt, but no one from Google did. This perceived snub may have fueled his harsh comments.
Here’s the unedited transcript of Trump saying Google might be shut down. Keep all of that in mind as you read it:
“So Mark Zuckerberg called me, first of all he called me a few times. He called me after the event, and he said that was really amazing, very brave. You know, and he actually announced he’s not going to support a Democrat because he can’t, because he respected me for what I did that day. I think what I did maybe was, to me it was a normal response. But I was called by Mark Zuckerberg yesterday, the day before or this same subject… and he actually apologized. He said they made a mistake, etc. etc., correcting the mistake.
Google, nobody called from Google.
One of the things like, doing a show like yours. Your show, you know, you see it on Fox, but where you really see it is all over the place, they take clips of your show that you’re doing right now with me. And if I do a good job, they’re gonna vote for me, they’re gonna vote for me. Because it’s not just on Fox. Fox… it’s a smaller part of it. You on all over the — those little beautiful cellphones all over the place. You have a product. You have a great product, you have a great brand. So you have to get out, you have to get out to do things like your show, and other shows, and…
Google has been very bad, they’ve been very irresponsible. I have a feeling Google is going to be close to shut down, because I don’t think Congress is going to take it, I really don’t think so. Google has to be careful.”
