Trump Trade: Trump threatens trade probe over EU tech fines

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

SECTION 301: On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump stated in a Truth Social post, “Europe today ‘hit’ another great American company, Google, with a $3.5 Billion Dollar fine, effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American Investments and Jobs. This is on top of the many other Fines and Taxes that have been issued against Google and other American Tech Companies, in particular. Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it! As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand. Apple, as an example, was forced to pay $17 Billion Dollars in a Fine that, in my opinion, should not have been charged – They should get their money back! We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” A Section 301 proceeding is an U.S. trade investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the United States Trade Representative conducts to address foreign government acts, policies, or practices that violate trade agreements or are deemed “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable,” or “discriminatory.”

DATA CENTERS, INFRASTRUCTURE: Meta Platforms (META) plans to spend “something like at least $600 billion” through 2028 on data centers and other infrastructure in the U.S., Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday at a dinner with President Donald Trump and other technology executives, according to The Information‘s Kalley Huang. In July, Meta estimated its capital expenditures in 2025 would be between $66B-$72B, up at least 68% from its capital expenditures in 2024. It also said it expected “similarly significant capital expenditures dollar growth in 2026” as it expands its computing capacity for its artificial intelligence efforts.

MILITARY DRONES: President Trump is preparing to reinterpret a decades-old arms control treaty to allow wider international sales of advanced U.S. military drones, Reuters’ Mike Stone reports. The change could approve Saudi Arabia’s request for over 100 MQ-9 “Reaper” drones, part of a larger $142B arms deal, while also opening sales to allies in Europe and the Pacific. Under the new policy, drone makers like General Atomics, Kratos (KTOS), and Anduril would have their products streamlined as Foreign Military Sales, marking the start of a broader review of U.S. arms exports, according to a U.S. official. Other military drone manufacturing companies include Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), AeroVironment (AVAV), RTX (RTX), and BAE Systems (BAESY).