Microsoft pledges to protect European operations and unveils data center expansion

Microsoft pledged Wednesday to fight any U.S. government order to halt data center operations in Europe as it sought to soothe concerns among European customers that trans-Atlantic tensions would lead to service disruptions. The company’s president, Brad Smith, said it’s not something that officials are talking about in Washington, D.C. but it is a “real concern” for Microsoft’s customers across Europe, which include governments.

President Donald Trump has stoked tensions between the US and Europe with his tariff-fueled trade war, and alarmed…