The Trump administration is taking sides in a growing legal battle between Elon Musk’s X and the European Union. On Thursday, the US Department of Justice filed an application to intervene in a pair of cases brought by Musk and X seeking annulment of a €120 million penalty imposed by the European Commission.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement that “the European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction.” The move represents the latest flashpoint in a broader trade and regulatory dispute between Washington and Brussels over the EU’s digital rulebook.
The fine, levied earlier this year under the bloc’s tech regulations, had already been challenged by X on procedural grounds. Now, with the US government formally backing the appeal, the case will test the limits of extraterritorial enforcement of EU law against companies headquartered outside the continent.
The General Court of the European Union, which handles challenges to EU regulatory decisions, will consider the DOJ’s intervention alongside the core appeal. Neither the European Commission nor X has publicly commented on the US filing at this stage.
The outcome could set a precedent for how other US tech giants—including Meta, Google, and TikTok—approach compliance with EU rules that Brussels increasingly asserts apply to any platform with European users, regardless of where the company is based.