By Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – A $140 million fine on tech tycoon Elon Musk’s social media platform underscores how Europeans undermine U.S. policies even while demanding that the United States provide military protection, one of the top American diplomats wrote on Saturday.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other American officials in criticizing the European Union’s fine on Musk-owned X as censorship. But Landau went further than Rubio by invoking broader ideological and strategic concerns.
Landau posted on X that the EU’s differences with the Trump administration on many issues undermine the idea of a partnership with the United States despite the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The EU’s regulatory stance could hurt shared Western security and values, Landau wrote.
“When these countries wear their NATO hats, they insist that Transatlantic cooperation is the cornerstone of our mutual security,” Landau posted. “But when these countries wear their EU hats, they pursue all sorts of agendas that are often utterly adverse to US interests and security … This inconsistency cannot continue.”
The X fine, announced on Friday, is the first significant enforcement action under the EU’s Digital Services Act. European regulators said they cited X for a deceptive blue-check verification system, inadequate transparency in advertising records, and refusal to grant researchers access to public data.
The criticism from Landau, along with earlier objections by Rubio, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr reflects Washington’s concerns over the impact of European digital regulations on American companies.
Rubio and Carr said the fine demonstrated bias against U.S.-based technology firms, with Rubio calling it an attack on the American people by foreign governments and an act of censorship against Americans online.
Adding to the furor, billionaire entrepreneur Musk, once a close ally of President Donald Trump before a public falling out, in a Friday post on the platform called for the EU to be abolished.
EU officials have said they are protecting users from deception, scams, and misinformation, and said X’s status as a U.S. company had nothing to do with the decision to levy a fine.
The tensions are surfacing as the Trump administration signals dramatic shifts in U.S.-Europe relations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as it seeks to maintain unity amid broader geopolitical challenges.
While the Trump administration has pushed for increased European defense spending, its approach has been marked by mixed signals toward NATO, ranging from criticism of burden sharing to rare moments of praise for allied initiatives.
Landau, the No. 2 U.S. diplomat, had previously questioned the need for NATO in a June post on X, which he later deleted.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Sergio Non and Deepa Babington)
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