【Wen / Observer News Network, Qi Qian】

Although Trump has conflicts with Musk, he still knows who the outsider is between the EU and Musk.

According to Reuters and AFP, on December 8th local time, US President Trump criticized the EU at the White House, saying, "Europe is heading towards some very bad directions, which is very detrimental to the people." Not long before that, the EU issued a fine of 120 million euros (about 140 million USD) against Musk's social media platform X, which caused strong dissatisfaction from the US government.

"Watch, Europe must be very careful," Trump told reporters, "They are doing a lot of things. We hope to keep Europe as it is. But Europe is heading towards some bad directions. It is very harmful to the people, very harmful."

He continued, "We don't want Europe to change too much. They are heading towards some very bad directions."

When asked about the EU's large fine against X, Trump said, "I think this is wrong." He then added, "Elon (Musk) didn't call me for help," but he would learn more details later.

Trump warned Europe "to be careful" on December 8th, AFP video screenshot

AFP reported that Trump's latest remarks echoed the criticism of Europe in the latest U.S. National Security Strategy released last week. The new strategy stated that Europe is facing "civilization's decline" due to excessive regulation and immigration issues.

The report also mentioned that the differences between Trump and Europe over Ukraine are increasingly intensifying.

On December 5th local time, after a two-year investigation, the European Commission determined that the X platform failed to meet the requirements of the Digital Services Act and issued a fine of 120 million euros. Reuters noted that this was the first major enforcement action since the Digital Services Act came into effect in the EU.

European regulators stated that the reasons for the fine on X included its misleading blue badge certification, insufficient transparency in advertising records, and refusal to open public data for researchers.

Before the EU officially announced this decision, Vice President Vance had already stated, "The European Commission may impose fines of hundreds of millions of dollars on X because the company did not conduct content review. The EU should support freedom of speech instead of attacking American companies for trivial reasons."

Earlier on the same day, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, also accused the EU of targeting X solely because it is a "successful American company."

After Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, the second-highest-ranking diplomat in the US, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landry, joined the criticism of the EU and raised the issue to a broader ideological and strategic level.

At the same time, Musk posted and forwarded a series of tweets criticizing the EU. He wrote on the 6th, "The EU should be dissolved, and sovereignty should be returned to individual countries so that governments can better represent their people." He also threatened to take action against the EU and some unnamed individuals.

Musk's tweet screenshot

However, the incident did not subside. On the 7th, Nikita Biryuk, the product head of X, further accused the European Commission of abusing the platform mechanism by using a post format intended for advertising promotion to expand the reach of the penalty announcement, and then immediately closed the European Commission's advertising account. He wrote, "Your advertising account has been suspended."

According to Politico EU, the EU has refused to back down.

"X must pay the fine, 120 million euros must be paid, and we will ensure we receive this money," said Thomas Rynne, a spokesperson for the European Commission, at a press conference. He also said that X still has the opportunity to challenge the decision in the EU court.

Regarding X closing the European Commission's advertising account, Rynne responded that the Commission had stopped using paid advertisements or any paid services on X since 2023, and its regular accounts remained open.

After the press conference, Rynne told Politico EU, "We shouldn't rush. We have just made our decision to fine X. The company now must pay the fine and has 90 days to respond to us."

This article is exclusive to Observer News Network. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7581732628261323327/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.