Musk ‘very welcome’ in Europe after Trump bust-up, says official

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Elon Musk is “very welcome” in Europe, a spokesperson for the European Commission quipped on Friday, following the tech billionaire´s spectacular public falling-out with US President Donald Trump.

The Trump-Musk political marriage blew up on Thursday as the president declared himself “very disappointed” in criticisms from his former aide and top donor -- before the pair hurled insults at each other on social media. At the commission´s daily briefing, spokesperson Paula Pinho was asked whether Musk had reached out to the European Union with a view to relocating his businesses, or setting up new ones. “He´s very welcome,” she replied with a smile.

The commission´s spokesperson for tech matters, Thomas Regnier, followed up by stressing -- straight-faced -- that “everyone is very welcome indeed to start and to scale in the EU”. “That is precisely the objective of Choose Europe,” he said, referencing an EU initiative in favour of start-ups and expanding businesses.