Musk teases European leaders before meeting right-wing German leader

Few European leaders have felt Elon Musk's social media outburst better than German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The tech-billionaire owner of X called him an “incompetent fool” and urged him to resign. On Thursday Musk will use his platform to host Alice Weidel, head of Germany's anti-immigrant AfD, in a lengthy debate.

Many German politicians are on the brink of political interference, with the AfD coming second in the polls ahead of federal elections on 23 February.

“You have to stay cool,” Scholz said. “Don't feed the troll.”

While some European leaders, notably Giorgia Meloni of Italy, have found favor with Musk, others are finding it hard to ignore him, as he enters their domestic politics ahead of a new role as an adviser to incoming US President Donald Trump.

In the space of 24 hours, four European governments opposed Musk's positions.

France's Emmanuel Macron was one of the first to express disbelief on Monday.

“Ten years ago, who would have believed it, if we had been told that the owner of the largest social network in the world would support a new, international opposition movement and directly intervene in elections, including in Germany?” he said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also weighed in, saying he found it “worrying that a man with great access to social media and important economic resources is directly involved in the internal affairs of other countries”.

The Spanish government spokesman, Pilar Alegría, said that digital platforms like X should be “absolutely neutral and above all without interference”.

Musk highlighted crime figures in Norway and Spain, and blamed a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany on “large numbers of unchecked arrivals”.

In the past few days, Musk has written several posts attacking UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his administration regarding gangs and child sexual exploitation.

“Those who spread lies and disinformation as far and wide as possible do not care about the victims, they are interested in them,” the UK prime minister said, without mentioning Musk personally.

Two notable exceptions in Europe are Italy and Hungary.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni developed a close relationship with Elon Musk and called him a “genius” and an “extraordinary inventor”.

And Hungary's Viktor Orban, who met Musk when he visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, shares Musk's dislike of Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros.

But the tech billionaire's intervention in German politics is highly controversial, given the upcoming election.

He has spoken out several times in favor of the AfD in recent weeks, and wrote a highly controversial article for Welt am Sonntag in which he called the AfD “the last glimmer of hope” for Germany.

Musk justified his intervention at the time because of his company Tesla's investment in Germany. He said that portraying the AfD as a right-wing, extremist party was “blatantly false”, because Alice Weidel had a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka.

Germany's security forces have labeled the AfD extremist or suspected extremist and courts have ruled that it pursues anti-democratic goals.

While Olaf Scholz wanted to calm down, the person who will represent the Greens in the position of chancellor, Robert Habeck, was blunt: “Move our democracy, Mr. Musk.”

Liberal FDP leader Christian Lindner suggested that Musk's intention may have been to weaken Germany in the interest of America, “by recommending voting for a party that will harm us economically and divide us politically”.

The former head of the European Commission's digital agenda, Thierry Breton, took to X last weekend to warn Alice Weidel, the AfD's chancellor candidate, that Thursday's live chat with Musk will give her “a significant and important advantage over your rivals”.

The European Commission said there is nothing in the EU's Digital Services rules that prevents live streaming, or anyone expressing their views.

However, the spokesperson warned that platform owners should not offer “preferential treatment”. Musk's X is already under investigation and the EU says the live stream will come under that investigation.

While Musk has talked a lot about German politics, he has been expanding his businesses in Italy.

Giorgia Meloni was on a whirlwind trip to dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago when reports emerged that Italy was in talks with Musk's SpaceX to sign a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) deal, which will supply Starlink satellites. Encrypted Internet and telecommunications services for the Italian government.

The deal has not yet been finalized and Rome has quickly denied any contracts have been signed.

Musk said on Monday that he is “ready to give Italy [with] the most secure and most advanced connection” – without confirming the agreement reached.

But the suggestion that Starlink could be entrusted with protecting the Italian government's communications is enough to cause consternation among opposition politicians in Rome.

“Giving such a critical job to Musk while supporting the European right, spreading fake news and interfering in the internal politics of European countries will not be an option,” said centrist leader Carlo Calenda.