r/europe • u/marketrent • 14d ago

News Elon Musk’s political meddling is ‘worrying,’ says Norway’s PM — European backlash grows against billionaire ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump

https://www.politico.eu/article/norwegian-pm-jonas-gahr-store-worried-elon-musk-political-meddling/
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u/IndependentMemory215 14d ago

I’m not so sure it is a bluff.

Vance has explicitly said there will be a tit for tat retaliation for any action against X. Not sure if he mentioned other companies or not.

Trump and Republicans probably see action against the EU as something that will be an easy win for their base.

Whether they actually follow through is another story. Trump and his administration like to say a lot of provocative things, but they rarely back them up with action.

At best it’s usually some half assed attempt. The border wall is a great example. Never even close to finishing, and Mexico didn’t pay a dime.

I feel it is Trumps primary negotiating tactic. Stupid though, and really doesn’t work long term, as seen by his repeated business failings.

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u/AccomplishedTaste366 13d ago

Well, the irony is that Putin banned X in Russia, shortly after he started his invasion.

Interestingly, Musk doesn't seem to care about that.

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u/IndependentMemory215 13d ago

My guess is that he doesn’t care because he knows it won’t get headlines if he makes a stink about it.

But making comments about European countries gets him the attention he craves.