In a wide-ranging interview, former President Donald Trump reignited his feud with Google, expressing concerns about the company’s immense market power and alleging bias in its search results. While the former president stopped short of explicitly supporting calls to break up the tech giant, he did express his belief that Google’s dominance needs to be addressed.
When asked about the Justice Department’s potential antitrust case against Google, Trump initially dodged the question before focusing on what he perceived as unfair treatment by the company’s search algorithms. He claimed that Google disproportionately displays negative stories about him while suppressing positive ones.
“Google’s got a lot of power. They’re very bad to me,” Trump told Bloomberg’s John Micklethwait. “If I have 20 good stories and 20 bad stories… you’ll only see the 20 bad stories.”
Trump went on to say he recently contacted Google’s leadership, specifically “the head of Google,” to address the issue, claiming that positive stories about him weren’t appearing in search results. Instead of endorsing a breakup, Trump suggested alternative regulatory approaches to address Google’s perceived bias.
“What you can do, without breaking it up, is make sure it’s more fair,” he said, acknowledging the company’s achievements. “I give them a lot of credit. They’ve become such a power.”
Trump also raised concerns about the growing competition from Chinese tech companies, emphasizing the need to protect American dominance in the sector. “We don’t want China to have these companies,” he said. “Right now, China is afraid of Google.”
When pressed about his administration’s previous attempts to ban TikTok and whether he still viewed the app as a security threat, Trump shifted the conversation back to Google. He recounted an alleged conversation with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, claiming the CEO told him he was “the number one person on all of Google for stories.”
Trump’s comments about Google are the latest in a series of public statements where he has criticized major tech companies. In July, Trump threatened to jail Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and others for alleged election fraud if re-elected. In September, he accused Google of bias in its search results, claiming it was showing negative stories about him while promoting positive ones about Vice President Kamala Harris.
J.D. Vance, the former tech investor and current Republican vice-presidential candidate, has also advocated for breaking up Big Tech, particularly Google, due to its perceived bias. He aligns with figures like FTC Chair Lina Khan in pushing for stronger antitrust measures to curb the dominance of companies like Google and Facebook, which he believes distort political discourse.
Trump’s renewed attacks on Google highlight the growing tensions between politicians and tech giants. While the former president has stopped short of calling for a breakup of Google, his comments suggest a continued desire for stricter regulation of Big Tech companies.
This situation raises important questions about the role of technology in shaping public discourse, the power dynamics between government and Silicon Valley, and the future of antitrust policy in the digital age.