WASHINGTON — The European Commission’s decision to impose a fine on Elon Musk’s social media company, X, is drawing sharp pushback from top U.S. officials in President Donald Trump’s administration. 

What You Need To Know

  • The European Commission’s decision to impose a fine on Elon Musk’s social media company, X, is drawing sharp push back from top U.S. officials in President Donald Trump’s administration

  • Trump himself became the latest to condemn the move this week when he called the 120 million euro penalty – the equivalent of about $140 million – a “nasty one” while declaring that he didn’t “think it’s right” 

  • The European Commission announced the fine Friday for what it said was X “breaching its transparency obligations” under its Digital Services Act, the online platform regulation it established in 2022

  • It all comes as Trump over the last few days has appeared to sharpen his critiques of Europe, criticizing it over its handling of migration and free speech in his national security strategy released late last week and calling its leaders “weak” in an interview with Politico published Tuesday

Trump himself became the latest to condemn the move this week when he called the 120-million-euro penalty — the equivalent of about $140 million — a “nasty one” while declaring that he didn’t “think it’s right.” The president went on to suggest that he would get a “full report” on the decision later and seemed to tie his criticism to his recent broader skepticism expressed toward Europe. 

“Europe is going in some bad directions, very bad for the people,” he said.

He also noted that Musk — who was a close aide to Trump before the pair had a public falling out that they have since appeared to smooth over — did not call him to ask for assistance on the matter. 

But the billionaire owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX has been anything but quiet about the subject on his social media site since the European Commission announced the fine Friday for what it said was X “breaching its transparency obligations” under its Digital Services Act, the online platform regulation it established in 2022. 

The executive body of the European Union pointed to three specific things in announcing its move: X’s “deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark,’” a “lack of transparency of its advertising repository” and “failure to provide access to public data for researchers.”

Vice President JD Vance — whose remarks at the Munich Security Conference early in his tenure in the White House, in which he levied that free speech was in “retreat” in Europe, turned heads — appeared to take the lead among high-profile Trump administration officials in criticizing the European Commission before the fine was official.

“Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship,” Vance wrote on X. “The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.” 

Following the announcement, other top officials joined in. 

“The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on @X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X. 

The U.S. ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, responded to Rubio’s post, calling the fine “excessive” and the result of “EU regulatory overreach targeting American innovation.”

“The Trump Administration has been clear: we oppose censorship and will challenge burdensome regulations that target US companies abroad,” Puzder added. 

Musk has spent days slamming the decision and has called for the European Union to be “abolished” in response. Members of the European Parliament have hit back in response, with one, Helmut Brandstätter from Austria, writing “the Tech Bros want small and week European countries. Won’t happen.” 

He went on to declare that “U.S. oligarchs will have to follow our laws.” 

It all comes as Trump over the last few days has appeared to sharpen his critiques of Europe, criticizing it over its handling of migration and free speech in his national security strategy released late last week and calling its leaders “weak” in an interview with Politico published Tuesday.