DUBLIN — Neutral and poorly armed Ireland — long viewed as “Europe’s blind spot” — announced Thursday it will spend €1.7 billion on improved military equipment, capabilities and facilities to deter drones and potential Russian sabotage of undersea cables. The five-year plan, published as Defense Minister Helen McEntee visited the Curragh army base near Dublin,  aims in part to reassure European allies that their leaders will be safe from attack when Ireland — a non-NATO member largely dependent on neighboring Britain for its security — hosts key EU summits in the second half of next year. McEntee said Ireland intends to buy and deploy €19 million in counter-drone technology “as soon as possible, not least because of the upcoming European presidency.” Ireland’s higher military spending — representing a 55 percent increase from previous commitments — comes barely a week after a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy exposed Ireland’s inability to secure its own seas and skies. Five unmarked drones buzzed an Irish naval vessel supposed to be guarding the flight path of Zelenskyy’s plane shortly after the Ukrainian leader touched down at Dublin Airport. The Irish ship didn’t fire at the drones, which eventually disappeared. Irish authorities have been unable to identify their source, but suspect that they were operated from an unidentified ship later spotted in European Space Agency satellite footage. The Russian embassy in Dublin denied any involvement. Ireland’s navy has just eight ships, but sufficient crews to operate only two at a time, even though the country has vast territorial waters containing critical undersea infrastructure and pipelines that supply three-fourths of Ireland’s natural gas. The country has no fighter jets and no military-grade radar and sonar. Some but not all of those critical gaps will be plugged by 2028, McEntee pledged. She said Ireland would roll out military-grade radar starting next year, buy sonar systems for the navy, and acquire up to a dozen helicopters, including four already ordered from Airbus. The army would upgrade its Swiss-made fleet of 80 Piranha III armored vehicles and develop drone and anti-drone units. The air force’s fixed-wing aircraft will be replaced by 2030 — probably by what would be Ireland’s first wing of combat fighters. Thursday’s announcement coincided with publication of an independent assessment of Ireland’s rising security vulnerabilities on land, sea and air. The report, coauthored by the Dublin-based think tank IIEA and analysts at Deloitte, found that U.S. multinationals operating in Ireland were at risk of cyberattacks and espionage by Russian, Chinese and Indian intelligence agents operating in the country.

BERLIN — Germany’s Bundestag budget committee is planning to sign off on over €2.6 billion in new military programs, according to a confidential list seen by POLITICO. The approvals, set for next week, mark another broad procurement round as Berlin ramps up defense spending and reenergizes its arms industry. The 11-item package includes almost every capability area: drones, long-range missiles, soldier systems, logistics vehicles and critical radar upgrades.  For Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, it’s another step toward making the Bundeswehr a war-ready force while giving German manufacturers a steadier pipeline of long-term orders. Some of the biggest checks are being written for drones. MPs will clear about €68 million for Uranos KI, an AI-enabled reconnaissance network built in competing versions by Airbus Defence and Space and German defense-AI company Helsing. Another €86 million will keep the German Heron TP, operated by Airbus DS Airborne Solutions and based on Israel’s Heron TP, flying into the 2030s. Roughly €16 million will go to Aladin, a short-range reconnaissance drone developed by Munich-based start-up Quantum Systems. Air power also gets a significant boost. MPs are set to approve around €445 million for a new batch of Joint Strike Missiles, produced by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and integrated for Germany’s incoming Lockheed Martin F-35A fleet. Separate contracts worth €37 million will replace obsolete radar components on Eurofighter jets.  NH90 naval helicopters, built by NHIndustries — a consortium of Airbus Helicopters, Leonardo and Fokker — will receive a parallel radar upgrade, as the model returned to headlines after Norway settled a long-running availability dispute with the manufacturer. At the soldier level, the Bundeswehr will move forward with close to €760 million for new G95 assault rifles from Heckler & Koch, nearly €490 million for laser-light modules supplied by Rheinmetall Soldier Electronics, and about €140 million for headset-based communications systems produced by Rheinmetall Electronics with major subcontractors 3M and CeoTronics. And in a sign of Berlin’s effort to rebuild military logistics at scale, MPs will approve roughly €380 million for off-road military trucks from Mercedes-Benz and around €175 million for heavy tank-transport trailers built by DOLL. These contracts directly feed Germany’s defense-industrial base as Berlin pushes industry to deliver at wartime speed.

Poland and Romania both scrambled jets overnight in their airspaces in response to a Russian bombardment in western Ukraine, close to the borders of both NATO countries. Moscow unleashed a wave of drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight, targeting the western cities of Lviv and Ternopil. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes, which damaged residential apartment buildings far from the country’s eastern front line, killed nine people and injured dozens, with others possibly trapped under rubble. Warsaw’s operational command said in a post on X it had deployed “quick-reaction fighter pairs and an early warning aircraft” as a precaution, adding “ground-based air defence and radar surveillance systems” were at “the highest state of readiness.”  Polish authorities also shut two airports, Rzeszow and Lublin, in the southeast of the country amid Russia’s aerial assault.  Romania’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced it had scrambled four jets — two German Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft and two Romanian Air Force F-16s — shortly after midnight in response to a drone incursion about 5 miles into Romanian airspace.   Corneliu Pavel, the ministry’s spokesperson, told Romanian outlet Digi24 the jets had the green light to shoot down the drone but decided not to when its signal vanished.  Both countries’ operations involved NATO allies, with the Polish operational command thanking the alliance and fellow members Norway, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany for their assistance in monitoring Poland’s airspace.   Russia’s war in Ukraine has spilled over in recent days, with a Romanian village evacuated Monday when a gas tanker across the river in a Ukrainian port was set ablaze by a Russian strike.  A section of the train route between Warsaw and Lublin, which connects to Ukraine, was also blown up by saboteurs over the weekend, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.  Russia’s overnight assault on Ukraine also targeted Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Dnipro, Zelenskyy said, and he called on additional air support for Ukraine and more punishing sanctions on Moscow. “Every brazen attack against ordinary life proves that the pressure on Russia is still insufficient,” he warned.

For decades, the European Union ran on an unspoken understanding: Germany handled the money, France handled the military. Now, the tables are turning. As Germany aims to become Europe’s predominant military power, the political balance is shifting. In France, there’s a scramble to stay relevant, while in Poland, Germany’s rearmament is stirring old ghosts and creating a sense that a Berlin-Warsaw alliance might be the most effective way to keep Russia at bay. “Everywhere I go in the world, from the Baltics to Asia, people are asking Germany to take on more responsibility,” said Christoph Schmid, a German Social Democratic lawmaker on the Bundestag’s defense committee. “The expectation is that Germany will finally step up and match its economic weight with defense power.” A Germany with Europe’s largest army, equipped with cutting edge tanks, missiles and jets, is a far cry from the shambolic Bundeswehr derided for its low morale and outdated equipment. That military power is tied to political and economic heft — and Europe will have to adapt to a dominant Germany. By 2029, Germany is expected to spend €153 billion a year on defense. That’s about 3.5 percent of GDP, the country’s most ambitious military expansion since reunification. France, by comparison, plans to reach about €80 billion by 2030.  Poland aims to spend 186 billion złoty (€44 billion) on defense this year, equal to 4.7 percent of GDP — the highest level in NATO — and plans to have one of Europe’s largest and best-equipped militaries. The fiscal realities are changing, too. With Paris struggling with debt above 110 percent of GDP and a deficit north of 5 percent, Berlin’s borrowing power gives it freedom that its neighbors can only envy. Poland is also fighting to keep public spending under control, exacerbated by the explosion in defense spending. One EU official called the shift in Germany’s military potential “telluric,” or Earth-moving. Another diplomat put it more directly: “It’s the most important thing happening right now at EU level.” For Europe’s diplomats, that surge raises more than budgetary questions. It challenges the story the bloc has long told itself about who guards its security. And that question is making the rounds in Brussels, where officials are wondering how “European” Germany’s buildup will really be. BERLIN BUILDS BIG AND LOCAL One sign of the answer lies in procurement. Berlin remains deeply protective of its national prerogatives in defense.  It has resisted giving the European Commission a stronger hand in buying weapons and plans to rely heavily on national frameworks, including a new procurement law that will make systematic use of Article 346 of the EU treaty. This clause allows countries to bypass EU competition rules to favor domestic contracts. That Germany first approach is already taking shape. Internal procurement papers seen by POLITICO show Berlin preparing to push €83 billion in defense contracts through the Bundestag by the end of 2026. | Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images Internal procurement papers seen by POLITICO show Berlin preparing to push €83 billion in defense contracts through the Bundestag by the end of 2026. That’s an unprecedented surge touching every area of the armed forces, from tanks and frigates to drones, satellites and radar systems. And that’s only the opening phase. Behind it sits a much larger €377 billion Bundeswehr “wish list,” a long-term blueprint covering more than 320 new weapons programs across all military domains. Even more striking is where the billions will flow. According to the procurement plans, less than 10 percent of new contracts are going to U.S. suppliers — a reversal after years in which Berlin was one of Washington’s top defense customers. Nearly all the rest will stay in Europe, and much of it with Germany’s own defense industry. For Europe, that means the EU’s economic engine is becoming its defense-industrial one too, with Berlin channeling hundreds of billions into domestic production lines while France and southern countries remain fiscally constrained. FRANCE FEELS UNEASY That shift is being felt in Paris, where Germany’s rearmament is viewed with a mix of skepticism and concern. “In France, the defense apparatus is at the core of the system,” said one EU official. “The difference between Paris and Berlin is that in France any official is, at the end, a defense official.” Despite French President Emmanuel Macron’s push since 2017 to improve the Franco-German relationship, mistrust toward Berlin remains deeply rooted in French defense circles. “It’s halfway between vigilance and threat,” one French defense official told POLITICO. “It will be difficult to work with them because they will be extremely dominant,” the official said, adding that the main caveat is whether German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will manage to fill the Bundeswehr’s personnel gaps. However, Germany’s industrial and economic might is as much of a concern as the country’s rearmament, the official continued. “They won’t need to invade Alsace and Moselle,” they joked, referring to the French regions that Germany successfully invaded during its conquest of France in 1940. “They can just buy it.” Beyond the historical unease, French and European officials wonder what kind of geopolitical role Berlin under Merz’s leadership intends to play. “It’s unclear yet what Merz wants to do,” said one Paris-based European diplomat. “Germany will have to take on a broader role internationally, but it’s unclear how.” The latest friction over Europe’s next-generation fighter jet project — the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS — has only deepened the unease. The €100 billion program was meant to be the crown jewel of Franco-German-Spanish defense cooperation. But delays and squabbling over which country gets a larger share of the work are testing that partnership to the breaking point. In recent weeks, German defense officials have floated fallback options, exploring potential cooperation with Sweden or the U.K., or pressing ahead with Spain alone. That prospect is alarming Paris.  For France, FCAS is more of a political project than just another procurement project. It’s tied directly to its nuclear deterrent, a fundamental aspect of its claim to European military leadership. Éric Trappier, the CEO of Dassault Aviation, which is to play a leading role in FCAS, was blunt with French lawmakers: “I’m not against the project, but when Germany says it’s going to exclude France, doesn’t that bother you?” If Berlin spends big while teaming up mainly with Nordic and eastern allies, Paris risks losing the central role it has long enjoyed in Europe’s defense architecture. POLAND’S WARY APPROVAL However, not everyone sees Germany’s rearmament as a threat. In Warsaw, it’s viewed as both necessary and overdue. “Poland has become a shining beacon among NATO allies in terms of military spending,” said Marek Magierowski, a former Polish ambassador to Israel and the United States. “Consequently, we insist that other partners follow suit. But if we seriously care about collective defense, we cannot keep saying: ‘Please, everybody spend more on defense. But not you, Germany.’” A group of Polish officials who spoke with POLITICO expressed similar pragmatism. “They’re rowing in the right direction,” one said. “From our point of view, it could have been done earlier, but it’s good that it’s happening.” But the often bloody past casts a long shadow.  “Looking at history, a situation where Germany would link its economic power with military might has always raised fears,” said Paweł Zalewski, Poland’s deputy defense minister. “Today, Poland has the largest land army in Europe and will be a very strong player in the future, so the modernization plans of the Bundeswehr have to be taken in context. All European countries are rearming.” Zalewski pointed out that Germany’s buildup comes as Washington signals a drawdown of its European presence. “An increase in Germany’s military strength is a natural response,” he said. “The main countries defending the eastern flank will be Poland and Germany.” However, old memories die hard in Warsaw, both from the war and from the policy of economic co-dependence with Russia pursued by former Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We also remember Merkel’s pro-Russia stance,” Zalewski said. “We are calling on Germany to show how strongly it will defend the international order against Russia. There is a need for constant verification. We aren’t forgetting anything.” Magierowski reflected that concern. “I am more worried about trade ties between Germany and Russia, still quite vivacious, and the growing pressure in Berlin to return to business as usual after the war in Ukraine.” That softer line on Russia is most visible inside the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), now the country’s second-largest party. “When we think about the AfD and whether they could gain power or co-power in future German governments, this is a concern,” one Polish official said. “The AfD is pro-Putin and has a program that talks about regaining some Polish territory. We cannot open that discussion in Europe. The Second World War started because Germany was unhappy about the results of the First.” A SHIFTING CENTER OF GRAVITY Taken together, Germany’s rapid buildup and its partners’ mixed reactions highlight how Europe’s center of gravity is moving eastward. The continent’s economic powerhouse is now transforming into its military-industrial one, while France clings to its nuclear card and Poland grows into a conventional heavyweight on NATO’s eastern flank. In Brussels, that realignment poses a test: Can the EU channel this momentum into common structures, or will it deepen the bloc’s defense fragmentation? For now, Berlin’s buildup is seen as a return to responsibility rather than a bid for dominance. But even supporters admit the scale of the change is hard to grasp. “It could be frightening, no doubt,” said one EU diplomat. “But Germany has coalitions. It’s in the EU and NATO — and many things could happen in the meantime.”

The Romanian government vowed new measures against Moscow after fragments from a Russian drone strike on Ukraine landed on its territory overnight, the latest in a string of cross-border incidents. In a post on X, Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said the debris fell in an inhabited area following Russian strikes on Ukrainian commercial ports, calling the assault “another reckless attack on Ukraine with consequences on Romanian territory.” “These actions are part of a clear pattern in Russia’s war of aggression,” Toiu wrote. “We will not hesitate to increase the price Russia pays for such reckless and illegal actions.” According to a statement from Romania’s defense ministry, radar systems detected groups of drones near the country’s airspace during the night of November 10–11, prompting the preventive activation of air defense systems. Around one in the morning, authorities reported that a drone had crashed near the Romanian village of Grindu, about five kilometers south of the frontier with Ukraine. Due to poor weather conditions in the southeast, fighter jets on standby were unable to take off. Toiu added that Romania, the EU and the U.S. have already imposed sanctions with “important impact” on Russia and are now preparing additional measures to raise the cost of aggression.

Poland said it rapidly mobilized military aircraft early Sunday to secure its airspace after Russia launched airstrikes on Ukraine’s Lviv region near the Polish border. “Polish and allied aircraft are intensively operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” said the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces. Ukrainian officials said the Russian strikes killed and at least four people in the Lyiv region and one person in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The mayor of Lviv said public transport routes were not operating due to a “massive enemy attack,” which had also caused a partial electricity outage in the region. “Russia targeted residential areas with drones and aerial bombs. Across all affected areas, residential buildings and critical infrastructure were damaged,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X. It was just the latest instance of Poland scrambling fighter planes to protect its airspace amid Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine. In early September, Poland shot down Russian drones that forced the closure of the Warsaw airport as Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be testing NATO’s defense capabilities. Since then, eastern-flank members of NATO have been on high alert. Denmark had to close its airspace last week after drone activity was detected around Skrydstrup Air Base.

The French and Swedish militaries will help fortify Copenhagen against aerial threats as European leaders converge on the city for two crunch summits this week. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced Monday his government had deployed “the Swedish Armed Forces to support Denmark with military anti-drone capabilities in connection with this week’s summits in Copenhagen,” including a specialized unit that will embed with the Danish military. Stockholm would also “lend a handful of powerful radar systems to Denmark for a period of time,” he added. Denmark was rattled by a wave of drone sightings at major airports and military air bases last week, disrupting air traffic and stranding thousands of passengers. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the airspace breaches amounted to “hybrid war” and hinted Russia was responsible. The incidents, which occurred ahead of Wednesday’s European Council meeting in Copenhagen to discuss defense and Ukraine, led the Danish authorities to take the dramatic step of closing the country’s airspace to civilian drones. France said Monday it had also sent its armed forces to shore up Copenhagen’s defenses. Paris deployed “35 personnel, a FENNEC helicopter, and active counter-drone assets” to Denmark “in response to the recent upsurge in unidentified drone flights in Danish airspace,” the French defense ministry said in a statement, adding the drones were a “serious threat.” In addition, a German frigate — the FSG Hamburg — arrived in Copenhagen over the weekend to assist with airspace surveillance. Along with Wednesday’s summit, Copenhagen will host the European Political Community on Thursday, bringing together leaders from across the continent.

Poland scrambled fighter jets and temporarily closed its airspace on Sunday after a Russian attack on Ukraine that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said lasted for more than 12 hours. Polish radar reconnaissance systems were put on the highest level of alert, Poland’s military posted on X, and NATO F-35 jets patrolled the skies until the attack ended. There were no airspace violations, the military said. The scrambling of jets and airspace closures are becoming more frequent as multiple NATO countries report drone sightings and other incursions. Three Russian drones were shot down in Poland’s airspace earlier this month. And Denmark reported fresh drone sightings above defense sites on Friday and Saturday, after a wave of drone activity earlier in the week temporarily shut down major Danish airports. The Russian attack early Sunday included nearly 500 attack drones and more than 40 missiles, including the Iranian-Russian Shahed drones, Zelenskyy said. Dozens were wounded in the strikes and among the dead was a 12-year-old girl, he said. “The massive Russian attack on Ukraine lasted for more than 12 hours,” Zelenskky said. “Brutal strikes, deliberate and targeted terror against ordinary cities,” he said. More than 15 locations in the capital were damaged, including multi-story resident buildings, “in particular in the Solomenskyi district,” Timur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a post on Telegram. The attacks came just hours after Zelenskyy warned Europe that the recent increased drone activity and airspace incursions are a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not stop with Ukraine. “Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open up some other direction. Nobody knows where,” Zelenskyy said. At the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country has no intention of attacking EU or NATO countries. But Moscow will respond with a “decisive response” to any aggression directed toward Russia, he said.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Pentagon should retain key military equipment in Europe to deter Russia even as Washington prepares to draw down the number of troops it keeps stationed on the continent, Finland’s president told POLITICO on Thursday. Speaking at the Finnish residence in New York, Alexander Stubb said he was “not too worried” about the outcome of the ongoing review of U.S. strategic assets around the world, the results of which are expected to be unveiled in coming weeks. “I think there’ll be a bit of a shift to the Indo-Pacific and that’s understandable,” Stubb said, referring to discussions about potentially moving U.S. troops and military equipment from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region. “When it comes to the number of troops there will probably be some discussion on that but at this stage I’m not too worried. It’s in the strategic interest of the United States, and very cost effective” to keep U.S. forces in Europe. He added: “I’m sure there will be some reduction, but by how much we don’t know.” While some American policymakers have called for reducing U.S. troop numbers, the Pentagon has yet to reveal its plans. Officials in countries that neighbor Russia — which has repeatedly violated European airspace in recent days — are bracing for imminent drawdowns, with Estonian President Alar Karis telling POLITICO earlier this month that front-line nations needed to prepare for this possibility. The main concern for European NATO allies, per Stubb, was that the U.S. continues to keep “essential equipment,” such as “air carriers” and radar, based on the continent. The U.S. currently has between 70,000 and 90,000 troops stationed in Europe — a number that increased under former President Joe Biden after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. ‘INTERPRETING ZELENSKYY’ In Finland — whose border with Russia is more than 1,300 kilometers long — the president is in charge of foreign policy as well as being commander-in-chief of the armed forces. As such, Stubb has been credited with playing an important role in speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine, including during a round of golf in March. The outing was credited with helping to change Trump’s perspective on Ukraine, as it was shortly afterward that he started to speak and post more critically about Vladimir Putin and Russia’s role in the world — though Stubb was adamant about not claiming too much credit for influencing the American president. “Under no circumstance do I want to inflame my own role,” he said. “I think Europe and the United States are playing well together under Trump — much better than they did in 2016. There is deep cooperation, especially with the big boys: France, U.K., Germany and Italy. And then I want to stress that President Trump has close relations with Secretary-General [of NATO] Mark Rutte and [European] Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.” He added: “Our dialogue with the president is open and frank. We are able to interpret Zelenskyy to Trump and Trump to Zelenskyy. I would argue the two of them are in a good place.” A recent Truth Social post by Trump, in which he wrote that Ukraine could reconquer all the territory it has lost to Russia in three years of war, had been a “gamechanger” in terms of showing where the president now stood on the war, Stubb said. And while some EU leaders have voiced skepticism about the depth of the president’s apparent shift on Ukraine — with Polish President Donald Tusk saying it’s a way of shifting full responsibility for the war to Europe — Stubb rejected that idea. “I’ve heard this theory that this was an off-ramp” in terms of U.S. support for Ukraine, he said. “I disagree with this theory. All the indications we get show that President Trump is very serious … I think President Trump is justifiably disappointed in President Putin … that leaves no space for interpretation.” After Europe passed its 19th round of sanctions against Russia, Stubb said the combined effect was taking a major toll on Russia’s economy. “They’ve run out of reserves. Their inflation and interest rates are both over 20 percent. Their growth rate is zero or negative. And they are going to have to raise taxes. So Russia is seeing the economic price of the war,” he said. However, in order to convince Russia to agree to a ceasefire, “we’re going to have to change Putin’s strategic game” by making him understand that we stand “united, firm, behind Ukraine.” Putin was currently testing NATO’s resolve via “hybrid warfare” including repeated airspace violations by drones and combat aircraft. “As a Finn it’s important to stay calm in these situations,” Stubb said. “Show resolve.”

A threat from President Donald Trump to impose “substantial” tariffs on countries that regulate U.S. tech companies is riling up Europe. But the continent’s digital regulations were not Trump’s primary target. Trump’s Aug. 25 post threatening to penalize “all countries with Digital Taxes, Legislation, Rules, or Regulations,” did not specify any territory by name. However, four people familiar with the White House’s conversations on digital trade policy say it was largely a response to several pieces of tech-focused legislation under consideration in South Korea’s parliament. The people were granted anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations. Trump’s threat is poised to complicate the talks between Seoul and Washington to nail down the details of the preliminary trade agreement their governments reached in July. At the same time, it has alarmed leaders in the European Union and United Kingdom, who worry Trump’s new demand could upend tentative trade agreements they have reached. “Trump’s post was a warning shot to South Korea and other countries weighing new rules on digital trade not to follow the European Union’s approach,” according to a person who spoke with Trump the day of his Truth Social post. Trump’s missive came shortly after he met with new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House, and after Lee’s government refused to sign onto a joint statement on the preliminary trade agreement that included a pledge to block legislation to regulate large tech companies operating in the country. While the South Korean government did not officially respond to the post, it drew an immediate response from EU officials, who declared it their “sovereign right” to oversee economic activities on their soil. Several EU leaders vigorously refuted the Trump administration’s claim that European restrictions unfairly target American tech companies. And EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said its regulation “does not look at the color of a company, at the jurisdiction of a company, nor the owner of a company.” But while Europe’s digital regulations are despised by U.S. tech giants, the White House is more focused on countries like South Korea, India, Turkey and Brazil, which are currently considering draft rules loosely modeled on Europe’s laws. Senior White House officials see South Korea’s response as a litmus test on whether they will be able to pressure other trading partners to abort pushes for new digital restrictions, three of the people said. “Part of it was the frustration that Europe hasn’t budged,” said another person close to the White House on Trump’s post. “But there was more a recognition … that South Korea was probably among three or four other jurisdictions potentially looking to be first followers of the EU — to mirror or mimic that approach. So he was like, ‘Okay, South Korea is here, their new president has said this is a priority, and we’ve got to nip this in the bud.’” A White House official told POLITICO that Trump has “consistently opposed” digital regulations from countries that target American tech companies. Those discussions are “part of almost every trade negotiation we’re having,” the official added. South Korean lawmakers in recent years have floated a series of proposals that could classify major U.S. tech companies as monopolies or gate-keepers, and open them up to steep fines, including the Platform Competition Promotion Act proposed in 2023. Those and similar proposals are drawing growing criticism from Trump allies in the U.S., including lawmakers like Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who co-led a letter sent in late July warning that Seoul’s proposed rules could give Chinese tech companies an edge there. Leading MAGA voices have also taken note: conservative activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk shared a post on X on Aug. 24 complaining that South Korea’s government “still targets U.S. industry with regulations while giving Chinese companies a free pass.” “Only Trump can fix this, no more free passes for China while we get punished,” Kirk wrote. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has brought up the legislation in trade talks with his South Korean counterparts, but digital trade wasn’t addressed in the limited trade agreement the two countries announced late July. The announcement — which Trump posted on social media — was scant on details, saying only that South Korea had agreed to a 15 percent tariff on its exports in exchange for a pledge of more than $350 billion in investment and an additional $100 billion in energy purchases. Ahead of the president’s meeting with Lee, however, senior Trump administration officials pressed the South Korean government to sign a joint statement on the deal that included language pledging to abandon proposals for digital trade restrictions, according to three people familiar with the discussions. South Korea rejected that draft language. Seoul insists it will press ahead with some form of digital regulation, though it has adjusted its approach to address expectations from the Trump administration. As a result of trade talks with Washington, South Korea’s liberal party will give up on at least one proposal, known as the Online Platform Regulation Act, according to a senior official quoted in local reports, and will instead consider pared back digital rules. Some South Korean officials say they would be willing to ease digital proposals that the Trump administration claims discriminate against American companies, and the Trump administration believes they are making progress toward convincing Lee’s administration to reject any digital legislation that hits American companies. “A lot is on the table and a lot of those demands are far tougher for South Korea than the digital issues,” said a person close to the White House. While South Korea’s legislation has long been on Big Tech’s radar, it only recently came to Trump’s attention, following days of briefings that highlighted Lee’s pledges to tighten digital regulations during the country’s presidential campaign earlier this year. High-profile Trump supporters have also recently taken note of the tech debate taking place in South Korea. Kirk’s X post was also shared with the president during a briefing ahead of the summit, as was an op-ed from former Trump national security adviser Robert O’Brien warning South Korea’s digital legislation, if passed, would be a “gift” to the Chinese government. Trump echoed that language in his Truth Social post, suggesting that other countries’ digital regulations “outrageously, give a complete pass to China’s largest Tech Companies.” “If Trump wants to go after Amazon, Google, or other U.S. tech firms here at home, that’s his prerogative, but other countries shouldn’t be messing with American tech firms. That’s clearly how folks like Charlie Kirk feel, and I think that’s how the president feels too,” said a former Republican official, who frequently meets with the president and senior White House officials. White House aides also presented Trump with letters from Republican lawmakers asking the administration to address the digital dispute as part of trade negotiations with South Korea, the people said. Ahead of Lee’s visit, House Ways and Means Republicans Adrian Smith (Neb.) and Carol Miller (W.Va.) released public statements calling on the administration to address the country’s digital proposals, and led a letter from more than 40 House Republicans warning that South Korea’s measures would disproportionately target U.S. tech firms. Said Miller: “President Trump is a known dealmaker, and I am confident that he will help secure fair market access for our digital companies operating abroad.”