“Europe must be very careful. They are doing too many things. We want to keep Europe as Europe,” Trump told reporters at the White House on December 8, after criticizing the “terrible” $140 million fine imposed by the European Union (EU) on Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
On December 6, Musk said that the EU “should be dissolved and return sovereignty to each nation” after the bloc determined that X had violated transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The violations included misleading design related to the platform’s blue verification badge, failure to provide public data access for researchers, and insufficient transparency regarding advertising.
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Trump stated that Europe is heading in the wrong direction, which he said is creating serious problems for its people. He emphasized that he does not want Europe to “change too much.” The EU has not yet responded to Trump’s remarks.
The White House had also criticized the region in its latest national security strategy.
“Europe must be very careful. They are doing too many things. We want to keep Europe as Europe,” Trump repeated while commenting on the EU’s $140 million penalty against X.
On the same note, Musk reiterated that the EU should be dissolved after the bloc accused X of violating DSA transparency requirements, including misleading verification design, failure to provide researchers with access to public data, and a lack of full transparency in advertising rules.
Trump again assessed that Europe is moving in an unfavorable direction, resulting in negative impacts on its citizens. The EU has not issued any official response to his statements.
On December 5, the White House released the national security strategy — a document issued once per presidential term to guide federal budget allocation and policy priorities. The strategy criticized Europe for operating too rigidly and for facing what it described as the potential “erasure of civilization” due to migration issues.
Meanwhile, the EU emphasized that the United States remains the bloc’s most important ally. While the two sides do not always share the same views on every issue, the EU said that their “core principles remain unchanged.”
Tensions between the United States and its European allies have continued to rise, particularly regarding plans to end the conflict in Ukraine. European officials fear that Washington wants to pressure Ukraine into conceding territory to Russia in order to secure a ceasefire.