President Trump warned that France is at risk of a fresh trade war with America — declaring in an exclusive interview with The Post thatunless Paris axes its digital tax on American tech giants, the US will “have no choice” but to slap 100% tariffs on French wines.
Trump said he gave the blunt warning directly to outgoing French President Emmanuel Macron, demanding he ditch the 3% tech levy or face devastating duties in the American market, which accounts for a fifth of the French wine industry’s global sales — worth more than $2 billion annually.
“I asked him not to charge American companies, and if they do, I have no choice but to charge a 100% tariff on all champagnes and all wines coming out of France,” Trump told The Post. “All [Macron] has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn’t have that kind of pressure.”
The ultimatumsets the stage for a bitter showdown at Monday’s G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, the annual meeting of seven of the world’s wealthiest democracies to set the rules on global trade, security, and economic policy that helps move markets.
His comments also shatter claims made last week by Macron’s office, the Élysée Palace, that the two nations had quietly settled their long-running spat over taxing Silicon Valley.
A senior source close to the French president told reporters last week that the issue was “no longer up for debate” amongst G7 countries — an account a US official immediately dismissed as “not accurate.”
France’s digital services tax, commonly known as the GAFAM tax, has been on the books since 2019. It imposes a sweeping 3% levy on the local revenue generated by the likes of Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Apple.
Because the policy targets gross revenue rather than profits, it hits US tech titans the hardest, raking in roughly $700 million last year alone according to the French finance ministry.
The pressure intensified in October when France’s deeply divided National Assembly, the country’s answer to the House of Representatives, voted 296-58 to double the tax to 6% and narrow the threshold to exclusively target the largest global players. The move was eventually vetoed by ministers.
Lawmakers had even originally floated a punitive 15% hike before scaling it back under industry pressure. Then-Economy Minister Roland Lescure warned at the time that a “disproportionate” tax would invite “disproportionate” American reprisals.
That reprisal is now taking shape. Trump’s latest threat revives the punishing 100% tariff level first proposed by the US Trade Representative during a 2019 investigation into the French tax.
While Macron has previously been dubbed a “Trump whisperer” capable of cutting deals with the billionaire real estate mogul — including an eleventh-hour truce at the 2019 G7 in Biarritz — the Trump administration is now taking a harder line globally.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been described at times as ‘a Trump whisperer’ who is able to cut deals with the billionnare real estate mogul.POOL/AFP via Getty Images
When approached for comment, White House spokesman Kush Desai pointed The Post to a presidential memo from February 2025 stating that American businesses would no longer “prop up failed foreign economies through extortive fines and taxes.”
The memo tasked US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and the Treasury Department with deciding whether to reopen a formal probe into the French levy. Neither department responded to requests for comment.
France’s aggressive tax hike isolates it from several key allies who have bowed to Washington’s pressure. Canada shelved its own digital tax in 2025 after the US broke off trade talks, and Italy is reportedly weighing a repeal of its levy.
Britain, however, has retained its digital services tax under its current trade arrangements with America.
The G7 (Group of Seven) summit runs until Wednesday in the French lakeside town of Evian.
The club of the world’s seven largest so-called “advanced” economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system, includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
Russia joined in 1998, creating the G8, but was excluded after it seized Crimea. China has never been a member, despite its large economy and having the world’s second-largest population
The eldest son of Norway’s crown princess was sentenced to four years in prison Monday after being convicted of rape.
Marius Borg Høiby, who was on trial in Oslo, was found guilty of two rape charges — and acquitted of the other two.
The 29-year-old, who is Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son, faced 40 charges in total, including violence, threats and abuse.
Marius Borg Hoiby, the son of Norway’s crown princess, was sentenced to four years in prison Monday after being convicted of rape.Lise Aserud/NTB Scanpix via AP
He also faced charges for lesser offenses, including assault, drug-related crimes and violation of a restraining order. He denied the rape allegations but admitted to several of the lesser offenses.
Høiby was also convicted of assault and abuse in close relationships and ordered to pay compensation to the victims.
Prosecutors called for a sentence of seven years and seven months in prison — while his defense attorneys said he should be acquitted of the rape allegations and receive no more than 18 months for the crimes he admitted to.
Høiby was charged with sexually assaulting four women between 2018 and 2024 while they were asleep or otherwise unable to resist.
Several accusers testified during the six-week trial, which concluded in March, and evidence from his cellphone — including messages, images, and videos — was shown inside the courthouse.
In February, one woman testified how Høiby “just wouldn’t stop” after they initially had consexual sex in her hotel room on the night of Nov. 1, 2024, according to Agence France-Presse.
“I was getting more and more tired. I felt like I was just lying there, and he just wouldn’t stop,” she told the courthouse.
“The more tired I got, the less I took part.”
She claimed she had told Høiby she wanted to sleep before being awoken by what she claimed was a “violent blow” in her genital area.
“It was painful. I think I just froze, then I fell back asleep.”
Høiby was not present in the courthouse, appearing only via video link, which his lawyers said was due to health reasons. He has been in police custody since early February.
Høiby joined the Norwegian royal family when Mette-Marit married Haakon — the crown prince and heir to the throne — in 2001.
In January, the crown prince revealed he and the crown princess wouldn’t attend Høiby’s trial.
“Marius Borg Høiby is not a member of the Royal House of Norway and is therefore autonomous,” he said.
“He is a citizen of Norway and, as such, has the same responsibilities as everyone else — as well as the same rights.”
A customer sued Anthropic PLC in federal court, alleging that the company misled users about the capabilities of Max 5x and Max 20x, its highest-tier subscriptions to the artificial intelligence (AI) agent Claude, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Monday.
According to the lawsuit the outlet saw, the plaintiff, Karl Kahn, claimed that Max 5x and Max 20x have been promoted as offering, respectively, five and 20 times the usage caps of Claude Pro subscriptions. However, the actual caps seem to be lower in reality, Kahn insisted.
The subscribers to Max 5x pay $100 per month, while those using Max 20x pay $200 per month.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his government's plansto restrict children's access to social mediaon Monday and said he did not expect the policy to cause problems with United States President Donald Trump.
Asked about concerns from major technology companies, Starmer said the issue was about "fighting for what we think is right." While describing himself as "a fan of tech and AI," he said artificial intelligence has the potential "to change our world for the better." However, he argued that technology companies and innovators should devise solutions that better protect children online and stressed that "all of us have a responsibility to protect our children."
He described child safety as "a red line," arguing that the issue was "bigger than some of the usual tos and fros of politics" and saying he believes world leaders broadly agree on the need to protect children.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that European countries are trying to persuade United States President Donald Trump not to follow through on agreements reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Anchorage summit.
According to Lavrov, European leaders traveled to Washington after the meeting and sought to convince Trump to "deviate" from the course discussed with Putin. He added that Moscow still expects the Anchorage agreements to be implemented, describing them as a potential first step toward ending the conflict in Ukraine, particularly because "its key components were proposed by the United States and President Trump, and accepted by President Putin."
Hezbollah welcomed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Iran and the United States, deeming it a "great achievement" that led to a "comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon."
The party said in a statement that this achievement was the result of the "legendary resilience, exceptional steadfastness and great sacrifices" made by the Iranian people and their leadership to "preserve dignity, sovereignty and independence," while praising the role played by the mediators.
Earlier, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hoped that the agreement between the US and Iran would also bring an end to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
