Elon Musk's feud with European leaders intensifies
Elon Musk is in a growing row with Europe. Musk called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez a “tyrant” and a “fascist totalitarian” for proposing a ban on social media for under 16s, while French police raided X’s Paris office over allegations that its chatbot Grok made sexualized images of children and denied the Holocaust. UK regulators are also investigating xAI, X’s parent company, on similar grounds. Musk has made several controversial public interventions in European politics — including backing the hard-right Alternative for Germany party and criticizing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer — that have not just deepened his unpopularity, but spurred a consumer backlash against Tesla, which saw 2025 profits down 61% year-on-year in part over plummeting European sales.
