US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the European Union accused the bloc of unfairly targeting American tech giants moments before it penalised Mr Elon Musk’s X social media network for violating a content law the White House hates.

“The only substantial meaningful fines that have been imposed so far have been against American companies,” Mr Andrew Puzder, the US ambassador to the EU, told Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua in an interview on Dec 5.

“So at some point, if you are an American company, you have got to sit back and say: Look, am I being targeted here?” he added.

“Or is this an effort to try and advantage European competitors over US companies? And if that is the case, it it is something that the United States needs to respond to.” 

Mr Puzder’s remarks prompted a sharp response hours later from his EU counterpart Jovita Neliupsiene, the bloc’s ambassador to the US.

The clash bracketed the unveiling of a

€120 million

The Commission, the EU’s executive branch, accused X of misleading users with its paid-for blue checkmark verification programme.

It also said X had s...