Vestager Refuses to Bite After Trump's Twitter Tirade on Google

(Bloomberg) -- Margrethe Vestager, the European Union antitrust cop who slapped Google with a record $5 billion fine, refused to be drawn into a clash with U.S. President Donald Trump, who attacked her decision in a hard-hitting Tweet.

After announcing fines to a group of non-U.S. companies, the competition commissioner insisted on Tuesday that it’s "very important not to politicize antitrust enforcement."

"The only politics here were the politics made by our founders," Vestager said at a Brussels press conference, stressing that some of the companies that complained about Google were American. "The Google case is a case about the illegal behavior of Google in Europe."

Trump lashed out in response to the fine against Google over its mobile phone operating system in the yet another trade-related salvo fired from the White House. "I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!" Trump said in his Twitter post on Thursday.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to meet Trump in Washington DC on Wednesday to try and cool U.S. trade threats of import tariffs on European cars. Vestager spoke after fining Asian and European companies for illegal sales restrictions.

--With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aoife White in Brussels at awhite62@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Peter Chapman, Giles Turner

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.