US President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of Europe on Monday, saying the continent is “going in some bad directions” as he condemned the EU’s multibillion-euro fine against Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
Here are the main points:
• Trump condemns EU’s €120 million ($140 million) fine on Ax
• Warned that Europe is heading in a “bad direction”
• Musk condemned the fine
• US officials say EU is targeting US companies
• EU cites transparency and data-access violations
• New US strategy warns of democratic “erosion” in Europe
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Europe is “very bad, very bad for the people” and warned that the United States does not want the continent to “change so much.”
He did not explain what he meant, but said Europe “has to be very careful when doing a lot of things.”
Washington questions EU’s handling of Musk platform
Trump was responding to questions about a €120 million fine imposed last week by EU tech authorities on the X social media platform for violating digital transparency and content-management rules.
Trump commented, “I don’t understand how they can do that.” He said Musk had not contacted him for help and that he expected a full briefing later in the day.
Musk rejected the fine, reacting sharply to the European Commission’s announcement and reposting messages criticizing the decision. He wrote, “Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy.”
Senior US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, also condemned the EU action as unfairly targeting US companies.
Brussels rejects claims of bias
EU regulators defended the fine as proportionate, saying Ax failed to meet transparency obligations by withholding data from researchers, maintaining an incomplete advertising repository and using a deceptive design in its Blue-Check verification system.
Tech chief Hanna Virkkunen said the Digital Services Act “has nothing to do with censorship” and applies equally to all platforms.
The controversy comes days after Washington released a national security strategy warning of a decline in democratic norms in Europe.
The document cites “censorship of free speech, repression of political opposition, declining birthrates, and loss of national identity and self-confidence” as major challenges for the continent.
TikTok, which faced a similar investigation in May, avoided penalties by promising to improve its ad transparency systems and urging the EU to enforce the rules consistently.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko