Trump warns Europe 'to be very careful' over $140M fine imposed on Elon Musk's X

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump warned Europe Monday "to be very careful" over the $140 million fine the European Commission imposed on American social media company X over breaches of transparency rules.

"Oh, that's a nasty one. Elon has not called me to ask for help on that one. But no, it's a tough thing. I don't think it's right," Trump said at a White House event, referring to his one-time political aide Elon Musk, who is also the owner of X.

"I'll speak about it later. I'm going to get a full report on it. Look, Europe has to be very careful. They're doing a lot of things. We want to keep Europe, Europe," he added.

The European Commission issued its €120 million (nearly $140 million) fine against X on Friday, citing multiple breaches of the EU’s Digital Services Act, marking the first non-compliance decision under the landmark regulation.

According to the commission, X misled users through the “deceptive design” of its blue checkmark feature, failed to meet transparency requirements for its advertising repository, and blocked researchers from accessing public data.

The commission found that X’s blue checkmark system — where users can pay for “verified” status — misrepresents verification.

This, regulators said, exposes users to scams and impersonation, violating Article 25(1) of the DSA, which prohibits deceptive design practices.