“Whoa, that’s a nasty one,” he said of the fine. “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. No, I don’t think it’s right. I don’t see … how they can do that.

The president added that he would be briefed on the fine in full later.

“Look, Europe has to be very careful. They’re doing a lot of things. We want to keep Europe Europe. Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s. very bad, very bad for the people. We don’t want Europe to change so much,” he continued.

The amount was less than expected and was dwarfed by previous fines, but the move came despite several explicit warnings from Trump.

Vice President JD Vance caught wind of the news early, issuing a warning on Thursday evening.

“Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage,” he wrote on X.

Trump’s warning came during a week of particularly frosty relations between Europe and the United States, following a period of warmer relations over the summer. European and U.S. officials exchanged insults online after the U.S. published its newest national security strategy, in which it warned that Europe is facing “civilizational erasure” due to mass migration, infringements on free speech, poor leadership, and other factors.

Trump’s comments alluded to the NSS, particularly his stipulation that he wants “to keep Europe Europe” and “we don’t want Europe to change so much.”

The section on Europe began by acknowledging its decline in terms of proportion of the world economy but noted that it was “eclipsed” by the “real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.”

“The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence,” the NSS said.

The document suggested that the changing demographics, replacing indigenous Europeans with people from the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere, would change the fabric of the nations of the EU.

“Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European,” the NSS said. “As such, it is an open question whether they will view their place in the world, or their alliance with the United States, in the same way as those who signed the NATO charter.”

In a move that significantly departs from previous NSSs, it advocated support of its “political allies” in Europe, referring to right-wing parties against the prevailing consensus, which triggered alarm in European capitals.

“American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history,” the document said. “America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism.”

The matter of tech censorship has been one of the sorest points between the U.S. and Europe since Trump took office, buoyed by the president’s newfound alliance with big U.S. tech companies and his long-standing bitterness over his perception that the EU and other countries are “ripping off” the U.S.

Trump raged against the EU in September after it fined Google $3.5 billion, a fraction of the tens of billions of dollars the 27-nation bloc has fined American tech companies over the past decade. He threatened to launch new tariffs in response.

EU FINES X $140 MILLION, RISKING THE IRE OF TRUMP

“Very unfair, and the American Taxpayer will not stand for it!” Trump said of the fine in a Sept. 5 Truth Social post. “As I have said before, my Administration will NOT allow these discriminatory actions to stand.”

“We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies,” he added, referring to Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, which authorizes the U.S. trade representative to levy tariffs against foreign goods to counter unfair trade practices.