Trump's tech advisers question Romanian election, diverging from U.S. diplomat's message
Right-wing tech moguls who are part of President Donald Trump's White House are casting doubt on the state of democracy in Romania, putting them at odds with the chief U.S. diplomat in the country. In much of Europe, the response to Sunday's Romanian presidential election was a sigh of relief. The winner, Nicusor Dan, isa centristwho supports Ukraine, and his victory shut the door on what Romanian authorities say wasan attempted coupsupported by Russia. But to a handful of right-wing tech moguls, Dan's defeat of George Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, was something else entirely. Two of them, Elon Musk and David Sacks, both of whom are advisers to Trump, expressed dissatisfaction with the state of Romania's democracy. Sacks, a wealthy investor,denounced the resultMonday in a post on X as "statistically unlikely, if not impossible." The statement amounted to an accusation of fraud, although Sacks provided no evidence, and he criticized Romanian authorities for disqualifying a leading pro-Russia candidate, Calin Georgescu. Simion, the losing candidate,had already conceded defeatwhen Sacks posted. Sacks, who wasnamed "czar"for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency by Trump in December, made the comments on his personal account on X, where he has 1.3 million followers, not on his government account. Musk weighed in separately. On X, he amplified an accusation by the head of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, who said the French government had asked him to ban conservative voices in Romania from Telegram ahead of the election. Durov, who has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship,said he refused. France's foreign ministrydenied ever makingsuch a request. Durov, who was born in Russia, is embroiled in a legal battle in France. Last year, French prosecutorscharged himwith enabling various forms of criminality on Telegram. Durovreturned hometo Dubai in March, but said he met with French authorities this spring in Paris. "Wow," Musk wrote,sharing Durov's allegationwith his own 219 million followers. Responding to another Durov post that said Romanian democracy was at risk, Musk wrote, "Hear, hear!" The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the statements by Musk and Sacks, two of the most prominent tech figures in the Trump administration. Neither Musk nor Sacks responded to emailed requests for comment. The U.S. embassy in Romania posted Sunday that it hadsent several teamsto observe voting. On Tuesday, the interim U.S. head of mission Romania, Michael L. Dickerson,posted a congratulatory note to Romania's president-elect on X. "We look forward to working with you as Romania's new president and the government to advance our shared priorities, including defense, energy, and commercial partnerships," Dickerson wrote, tagging Dan. Dickerson was named to the interim diplomatic post earlier Tuesday, when the embassyannounced the retirementof U.S. Ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec on Facebook. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It's unusual in recent history for White House advisers to comment individually on foreign policy subjects unless their job is specific to national security, but Musk in particular has veered far from past practice. He has pushed right-wing political movements, policies and administrations in at least 18 countries,especially in Europe, according toan NBC News tally. The social media posts by Musk and Sacks show how Romanian politics has risen in importance in the minds of some wealthy tech figures in recent years, especially as a proxy for attitudes about Russia. Romania borders Ukraine and has provided aid to its neighbor as it defends itself. Political candidates in the country hold a wide range of views about Russia, although pro-Ukraine candidate Dan prevailed on Sunday. Musk and Sacks have both expressed support for Russia's position in its war against Ukraine. In 2022, Musk suggested that Ukrainecede territory to Russia, and this year he called Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a "traitor"for expressing supportfor Ukraine. Sackshas repeatedly criticizedthe U.S. decisionto back Ukraineand has said Russia is "not our enemy." The two are also longtime friends and business associates, dating to their time as early executives at PayPal two decades ago. Elections have recently been a charged issue in Romania. Georgescu won the first round of Romania's presidential election in 2024, but the country's top court annulled the result in December, two days before the final runoff vote, amid accusations that Moscow hadinterfered via a TikTok disinformation campaign. Georgescu,who is under criminal investigationin connection with alleged Russian meddling, was barred from the new ballot in March. The same month, Romanian authorities announcedthe arrest of six peoplewho they said were plotting a coup against the government in collusion with Russia. Sacks, on X, turned the coup allegation around: Heshared a postby another X user Monday who accused the European Union of mounting a "quiet coup" with the disqualification of Georgescu. However, Georgescu was disqualified by a Romanian election authority based on Romanian law, unrelated to E.U. membership, according toa Reuters factcheck. The E.U.'s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, hassingled out Russiafor allegations of interfering in Romania's election. Moscow has denied interfering, but on Monday the Kremlincriticized Romania's electionas "strange," according to Reuters. Both Sacks and Musk had earlier expressed support for Georgescu, the pro-Russia candidate, remaining on the ballot. Musk calledthe decision to bar him"crazy," while Sacks said it representedthe death of democracy. Vice President JD Vance hasexpressed similar views, saying that the evidence against Georgescu was "flimsy," although he has not commented on the results of the election.
Trump's tech advisers question Romanian election, diverging from U.S. diplomat's message Right-wing tech moguls who are part of Pres...
