Elon Musk helped Trump win. Now he's looking at Europe, and many politicians are alarmed

LONDON (AP) — Fresh from pouring his money and energies into helping Donald Trump win reelection, Elon Musk has trained his sights on Europe, setting off alarm bells among politicians across the continent.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive has endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany, demanded the release of jailed U.K. anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer an evil tyrant who should be in prison.

Many European politicians have been left concerned by the attention. Musk’s feed on his social network X is dotted with abusive language — labeling politicians “stupid cretin” and “sniveling cowards” — as well as retweets of far-right and anti-immigrant accounts.

Andrew Chadwick, professor of political communication at Loughborough University, said Musk is using X “a bit like an old-style newspaper mogul,” to promulgate his political views.

“We’ve seen Musk start to align himself much more obviously with an international movement of the far right,” Chadwick said. ”If you look at the kinds of people who Musk himself is boosting on his platform … he’s increasingly started to assemble a group of different right-wing influencers, many of them with large followings, and presenting their evidence as a basis for his interventions into European politics.”

Musk has inserted himself into politics in Germany, which is headed for a Feb. 23 election after center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fractious three-party coalition government collapsed.

On Dec. 20, Musk wrote on X: “Only the AfD can save Germany,” a reference to the Alternative for Germany party, which is under observation by the domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremism.

He doubled down on support for the AfD in an article for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, claiming Germany is “teetering on the edge of economic and cultural collapse.” Later this week Musk is due to hold a live chat on X with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel.

Scholz’s response embodies the dilemma faced by European politicians — should they ignore and let Musk’s comments go unchallenged, or engage and risk amplifying them?

Scholz has said it’s important to “stay cool” over personal attacks, but called Musk’s involvement in German politics worrying. In a new year message, Scholz pointedly noted that Germany’s way forward “will not be decided by the owners of social media channels” but by German voters.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Monday about the risks posed by unchecked power in the hands of tech billionaires and the destabilizing impact they could have on democratic institutions.

“Who could have imagined, 10 years ago, that the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks would intervene directly in elections, including in Germany?” Macron said.

Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said Musk’s behavior was “troubling and far from amusing.”

“Someone cannot simply use their platform, wealth and connections to try to dictate how governments are formed in each nation,” he told Parapolitika Radio. “This is becoming increasingly dangerous.”

Musk has increasingly focused on British politics since the center-left Labour Party was elected in July, calling Starmer an “evil” leader presiding over a “tyrannical police state.”

Musk’s recent focus is on child sexual abuse, particularly a series of cases that rocked northern England towns several years ago, in which groups of men, largely from Pakistani backgrounds, were tried for grooming and abusing dozens of mostly white girls. The cases have been used by far-right activists to link child abuse to immigration and Islam.

Musk has accused Starmer of failing to bring perpetrators to justice when he was England’s director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013 — a charge Starmer strongly denies.

“Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain,” Musk tweeted.

Chadwick said “there’s been a hesitancy on the part of the political elite in the U.K. to engage” with Musk’s “incredibly inflammatory remarks.” But Starmer changed tack Monday, condemning “lies and misinformation” and accusing U.K. Conservative politicians who have echoed some of Musk’s points of “amplifying what the far right are saying.”

“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have, but that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies,” the prime minister said.

Starmer is facing calls to tighten Britain’s laws on foreign interference, and governments around the world are under pressure to leave X. Both the U.K. and German governments say they have no plans to quit the platform.

Musk’s X is under investigation by European authorities attempting to curb hatred, disinformation and other toxic content on social media. The European Union has launched infringement proceedings against X under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, and EU spokesman Thomas Regnier said it will look at whether Musk's livestream interview Thursday with the AfD's Weidel gives inappropriate “preferential treatment” to the party during a preelection period.

Musk, a self-styled free-speech advocate, is critical of efforts to regulate social media. He has compared British attempts to weed out online misinformation through the Online Safety Act to censorship in the Soviet Union.

Musk clearly enjoys baiting mainstream politicians on social media, but Chadwick said it “remains to be seen” whether his posting changes public attitudes or helps the causes he champions.

And the political interventions carry risk for him. His comments are being watched closely by Tesla investors for signs he could be turning off car buyers who don’t agree with his politics.

Tesla is already struggling in Europe, where new registrations for Musk’s electronic vehicles fell 13% in the first nine months of 2023, according to auto researcher Jato Dynamics. In Germany, Tesla registrations dropped 44%.

Jato senior analyst Felipe Munoz said that Musk's outspokenness is rare and risky for the owner of a publicly traded company — though it may pay off in the end.

“Europe is going to (the) right,” he said, pointing to politicians including France’s Marine Le Pen and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

“Look at what happened in the U.S. His bet on Trump worked. He is playing the same game in Europe.”

Geir Moulson in Berlin; Sylvie Corbet in Paris; Raf Casert in Brussels; Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece; and Bernard Condon in New York contributed to this story.

FILE - Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits a healthcare provider to deliver remarks on reducing NHS wait times, in Surrey, England, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a visit to the company MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg in his constituency, Ludwigsfelde, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Christoph Gollnow/dpa via AP)

FILE - People carry candles attending an AfD election campaign in front of the cathedral in Magdeburg, Germany, on Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

FILE - Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

ROME (AP) — An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was freed Wednesday and returned home, after her fate had become intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy and wanted by the United States.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala, 29, landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where Premier Giorgia Meloni was on hand to welcome her alongside Sala’s family members. Sala’s companion, Daniele Raineri, posted a photo of a smiling Sala greeting Meloni in the airport.

Sala’s liberation marked a major diplomatic and political victory for Meloni, whose recent visit to President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago retreat greatly enhanced her stature internationally at a time when Italy was negotiating Sala’s release.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

ROME (AP) — An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was freed Wednesday and was heading home, after her fate had become intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy and wanted by the United States.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala, 29, left Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that she had personally informed Sala's parents.

Iranian media acknowledged the journalist’s release, citing only the foreign reports. Iranian officials offered no immediate comment.

Sala, a reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran detained and held Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release in Italy of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before, on Dec. 16, on a U.S. warrant.

The U.S. Justice Department has accused Abedini and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan that killed three American troops.

Abedini remains in detention in Italy but has asked a Milan court to grant him house arrest pending an extradition hearing.

Sala’s release was met with cheers in Italy, where her plight had dominated headlines.

It came after Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida last weekend to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Meloni in a statement on X thanked “all those who helped make Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to re-embrace her family and colleagues.”

Meloni’s visit to Trump had a strong impact on the premier's international standing, which strengthened Italy’s hand in negotiations, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said.

“Any time you can reinforce the credibility of a leader of a country at a particular moment, the stronger the country is,” he told Italy’s Sky TG24.

Sala's fate had become intertwined with that of Abedini. Each country's foreign ministry summoned the other's ambassador to demand the prisoner's release and decent detention conditions. The diplomatic tangle was particularly complicated for Italy, which is a historic ally of Washington but maintains good relations with Tehran.

Members of Meloni's cabinet took personal interest in the case given the geopolitical implications. Foreign Minister Antonio Tanaji and Crosetto hailed the diplomatic teamwork involved to secure Sala's release, which amounted to a significant domestic and diplomatic victory for Meloni.

But the release also posed a delicate political question for Italy given Abedini's status. The United States has complained in the past when Italy has lost track of suspects in the Italian judicial system awaiting hearings for extradition to the U.S.

Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, which had flagged Sala's detention as an attack on press freedom, cheered her release.

“Now the 25 journalists still held in Iranian prisons must also be released,” the group said in a social media post.

Since the 1979 U.S. Embassy crisis, which saw dozens of hostages released after 444 days in captivity, Iran has used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips in negotiations.

In September 2023, five Americans detained for years in Iran were freed in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released by South Korea.

Western journalists have been held in the past. Roxana Saberi, an American journalist, was detained by Iran in 2009 for around 100 days before being released.

Also detained by Iran was Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who was held for more than 540 days before being released in 2016 in a prisoner swap between Iran and the U.S.

Both cases involved Iran making false espionage accusations in closed-door hearings.

Elisabetta Vernoni, mother of Cecilia Sala an Italian journalist who was detained on Dec. 19 as she was reporting in Iran, leaves Palazzo Chigi after meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in Rome, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP)