Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldMessages from the archive of Rutherford Hall, critical communications strategistWhatsApp to Stephen: We’ve hit the motherload. MicroMetah.AI want our help in their EU lobbying campaign. With Trump in charge, they want to play hard ball with the European Commission. But they still want to hedge their bets a bit with someone playing good cop even as they bare their fangs. We’ll be negotiating but with the 82nd Airborne on standby.From: [email protected]: [email protected] Jesse, We’re thrilled to be on board with one of tech’s giants. Monkwell has long regarded the European Commission as a blocker to business so it is a real pleasure to put them back in their box on digital regulation. As far as our fee goes it is our standard rate plus the removal of my entire personal search history. I’m kidding of course, although is that actually doable? Clearly there are a lot of issues. Europe has even forced Apple to change its charging cable, which is pure anti-Americanism. And the market abuse rules really cramp a plutocrat’s style. I wouldn’t place much store on the commission’s soothing noises about being ready to discuss anything. They are about as dependable as a British cabinet minister’s LinkedIn profile.But the bottom line is you now have firepower on your side, which is presumably why you all discovered your secret inner Republican around November 5. I was very impressed with Meta’s policy chief telling European leaders last week anything his company doesn’t like would be “highlighted” “with President Trump”. I love it; he’s the Daddy and we’re telling our Dad. So cool.Even so, it can’t be all stick. At some point the EU will just push back, especially if he’s already whacking them with tariffs, stealing Greenland and selling Ukraine. Also they’ll note the way tech firms just roll over in China. So some soft diplomacy is important. Anything we can do to show you still want to work with them sometimes will ease the overall climate. But ultimately, yes, be ready to wheel out the president, or even better Elon Musk. You should go after the UK too. Elon hates the Online Safety Act. And we think they are very exposed over the digital services tax, though it is popular here and the government has no money. Trump really hates tax being paid to other countries so I think we can run a very aggressive campaign to ramp up pressure on this. They are desperate to keep in with him. We can reach out to Lord Mandelson, the new ambassador, and see if he wants to turn this into a win for himself with the US administration.Speak soon, RutherfordFind me on Strava, KoM Sydenham Hill, London to Brighton 3 hrs 04m, Al Jubailah/Bawdah Loop — 42 mins.WhatsApp to Marcus@EUComm: Marcus, as you may know we’ve been hired by MicroMetah.AI. I know they are swaggering in public but we think the tech leaders want to work constructively with you. They know they’ve got Trump at their back but they also want to be reasonable. They don’t want to be running to him all the time. Let’s talk soon.WhatsApp to [email protected]: Could be time to dial the White House.WhatsApp to Marcus@EUComm: Seriously Marcus, they don’t see why AI advances should be restrained by copyright rules that stop them taking content for free. You know that other people’s property is theft, right? I’m trying to hold my guys back here. They’re ready to take Trump to Defcon one.From: [email protected]: [email protected] Jesse,OK, they are scared. Let’s hold the Pres back for a bit. We need to ratchet up the pressure on AI regulation since that ball is very much in play. It offers the EU a chance to play nice, recognising that their overstrict copyright and safety rules are making Europe a no-go zone for the most important arriving technology. Also no one there actually understands AI anyway. Your argument here is simply that the EU is making itself irrelevant, although truthfully you might prefer an irrelevant EU anyway. If we tell them that all European investment will go to the UK instead, I think they’ll soon come round. One concern is that a lot of the EU antitrust issues involve one US tech giant against another. So we will need to make sure you can still sabotage your rivals without it prompting President Trump to ride to their rescue. There’s no point getting Apple fined billions, if Tim Cook can just get the president to call it anti-American and threaten the EU with tariffs. It’s another example of why we need a holistic approach which is not just running to Trump every time.Best RutherfordFind me on …WhatsApp to Marcus@EUComm: I’m sorry you feel that way Marcus. I should warn you I don’t think we can stop President Trump hearing about this.Messages recovered by Robert Shrimsley
