Washington, December 9: US President Donald J. Trump has sharply criticised the European Union’s decision to fine X the platform owned by Elon Musk declaring that Europe “has to be very careful” and warning that the continent is “going in some very bad directions.” His remarks came a day after the EU imposed a €120-million penalty on X under its Digital Services Act (DSA), marking the first significant enforcement action under the landmark European law.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he had not yet reviewed the full details of the case but described the EU’s action as “a nasty one.” He questioned the legitimacy of the penalty, adding that he did not understand “how they can do that” and suggesting that Europe was taking regulatory steps that could undermine its own stability.
The fine was announced after Brussels concluded that X had violated a series of transparency and compliance requirements. EU regulators found that the platform’s paid blue-check verification system was misleading for users, failed to maintain a mandatory public advertising database, and restricted researchers’ access to data breaches that European officials argued undermined the integrity of online information. The case is the highest-profile test yet of the DSA, which seeks to hold large digital platforms accountable for content and transparency obligations.
Musk dismissed the penalty in characteristic fashion, posting a one-word response “Bullshit” shortly after the Commission released its findings. His reaction set the stage for an immediate political escalation between Washington and Brussels, which intensified further once Trump voiced support for Musk and criticised the EU’s approach.
Trump’s broad warning about Europe reflected a deeper political critique. The President said the continent was “changing too much” and suggested that the direction of European politics, economic regulation and migration policy was harming citizens. “We want to keep Europe Europe,” he said. “Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad for the people. We don’t want Europe to change so much.”
The dispute has quickly become more than just a case about platform compliance. It has reopened longstanding tensions between the United States and the European Union over digital governance, freedom of expression, and the power of American tech companies operating within European jurisdictions. While EU officials have defended the fine as a necessary enforcement of consumer-protection and transparency rules, US officials have privately raised concerns that the decision could be interpreted as discriminatory against American platforms.
The White House has requested a full briefing on the matter, and aides indicated that senior US officials will assess whether the EU’s regulatory process adhered to international digital-trade norms. Meanwhile, X is expected to appeal the decision in European courts, a process that could span months and shape future interpretations of the DSA.
For Brussels, the case is a critical moment in establishing regulatory authority over global technology firms. For Washington, particularly under the Trump administration, it represents another point of friction in a transatlantic relationship already strained by disputes over trade, defence contributions, and migration policy.
As of now, the EU has not commented directly on Trump’s criticism, though officials in Brussels maintain that the fine was based strictly on legal obligations and evidence gathered during their investigation. X, however, remains at the center of an increasingly politicised showdown that could influence both Europe’s regulatory landscape and US-EU relations well beyond this case.
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