Harsh attack on the EU from the top of US diplomacy. Washington says the European bloc's policies are “undermining” relations within NATO

The $140 million fine applied to billionaire Elon Musk's Platform X highlights how Europeans are undermining US policies while demanding US military protection, one of the top US diplomats, Marco Rubio's deputy, wrote on Saturday.

“The countries of Europe cannot look to the US for their own security while undermining US security through the (unelected, undemocratic and unrepresentative) EU,” said US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

Landau thus joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other US officials in criticizing the fine imposed by the European Union on the X platform, owned by Musk, which it considers to be a tool of censorship.

But Landau went further than Rubio, citing broader ideological and strategic concerns.

Landau posted on X that differences between the EU and the Trump administration on many issues undermine the idea of ​​a partnership with the United States despite the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

My recent trip to Brussels for the @NATO The ministerial meeting left me with one overriding impression: the US has long failed to address the glaring inconsistency between its relations with NATO and the EU. These are almost all the same countries in both organizations. When these…

— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) December 6, 2025

The EU's regulatory policy could harm Western security and shared values, Landau wrote.

“When these countries wear NATO hats, they insist that transatlantic cooperation is the cornerstone of our mutual security,” Landau wrote.

“But when these countries wear EU hats, they pursue all sorts of agendas that are often completely adverse to US interests and security. This inconsistency cannot continue,” he said.

US problems with European civilization

In his post, Landau said the fine was only the “tip of the iceberg” and that the EU had consistently undermined its credibility with the US by focusing on policies he described in a separate post on Saturday as counter to US interests and a form of “civilisational suicide”.

“Either the great nations of Europe are our partners in protecting the Western civilization we inherited from them, or they are not. But we cannot pretend to be partners while these nations allow the unelected, undemocratic and unrepresentative EU bureaucracy in Brussels to pursue policies of civilizational suicide,” he said.

What's even worse is that the US is in a MILITARY ALLIANCE with the very countries attacking us via the EU. Ace @VP @JDVance noted earlier this year, this contradiction cannot continue. The nations of Europe cannot look to the US for their own security at the same time they… https://t.co/ftfo2YlgkD

— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) December 6, 2025

The reference to civilizational suicide is a reference to the new US security strategy released on Thursday.

The document highlighted the ideological chasm that has been created between Washington and its traditional allies, describing a European continent where “economic decline is eclipsed by the real and harsher prospect of the demise of civilization.”

“The major problems facing Europe include the activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political freedom and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, a drastic decline in the birth rate, and a loss of national identity and self-confidence,” the Trump administration said in the document.

How does the European Commission justify the fine applied X

The fine imposed on Company X, announced on Friday, is the first significant enforcement measure under the EU's Digital Services Act.

European regulators said they had fined Company X for a deceptive blue-tick verification system, inadequate transparency in advertising records and refusal to grant researchers access to public data.

Landau's criticism, along with objections from Rubio, US Vice President JD Vance and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, reflect Washington's unease about the impact of European digital regulations on US companies.

Rubio and Carr said the fine demonstrates bias against US-based tech firms, with Rubio calling it an attack on the American people by foreign governments and an act of censorship against Americans.

Musk called for the eradication of the EU

Musk went even further in his attacks, calling for the eradication of the EU – a request that former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev immediately agreed with.

EU officials said the measures taken to hold tech companies accountable protect users against deception, scams and misinformation, and said Company X's status as a US company had nothing to do with the decision to impose a fine.

The tensions surfaced as the Trump administration signaled a dramatic shift in US-European relations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in an attempt to maintain unity in the face of broader geopolitical challenges.

Landau had previously questioned the need for NATO in a June post on X, which he later deleted.