US President Donald Trump on Monday intensified his criticism of Europe, saying the continent was “going in some bad directions” while condemning a multimillion-euro EU penalty levied against Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
Key points:
• Trump criticized the EU’s €120 million fine on X
• Warned Europe was heading in “bad directions”
• Musk denounced the penalty
• US officials said the EU was targeting American firms
• EU said X breached transparency and data-access rules
• A new US strategy warned of democratic “erosion” in Europe
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Europe was “very bad, very bad for the people” and cautioned that the United States did not want the continent “to change so much.” He did not elaborate on specifics but added that Europe “has to be very careful doing a lot of things.”
Trump’s remarks came as he responded to questions about last week’s €120 million fine imposed by EU tech authorities under the Digital Services Act. EU regulators found that X failed to meet transparency obligations by withholding data from researchers, maintaining an incomplete advertising repository, and using deceptive design in its blue-check verification system.
“I don’t see how they can do that,” Trump said of the penalty. He noted Musk had not contacted him for help and said he expected a full briefing later in the day.
Musk rejected the penalty, reposting criticism of the decision and asserting that “Freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy.” Senior US officials, including Senator Marco Rubio and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, also criticized the EU action as unfairly targeting American companies.
Brussels pushed back on claims of bias, defending the fine as proportionate and saying the Digital Services Act is not about censorship and applies equally to all platforms. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen emphasized that the rules are intended to ensure transparency and accountability online.
The dispute follows a US national security strategy release warning of declining democratic norms in Europe, citing concerns such as “censorship of free speech, suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
TikTok, which faced similar scrutiny in May, avoided a fine by pledging improvements to its advertising transparency systems and urged consistent enforcement of the rules across platforms.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko