World Leader Torches ‘Stupid’ Trump Take on Violent Riots
Macron has hit back at Trump’s claims that migrants are tearing France apart.
LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Emmanuel Macron has blasted Donald Trump over what he described as his “stupid” take on protests in France.
The French president made the remarks Wednesday after Trump used the demonstrations to attack migration and urge France to shut its borders, despite no evidence that immigration or religion had sparked the protests.
France has been rocked by demonstrations over the cost of living, strained public services, and deteriorating school conditions. The unrest has escalated into clashes with police, arson and looting across several cities, leaving more than 150 officers injured and resulting in 1,800 arrests, according to authorities.
A car burns amid clashes between protesters and the French police.
Stephanie Lecocq/REUTERS
Overnight curfews were imposed in several cities on Monday, including parts of Paris.
Trump seized on the turmoil to deliver a warning about immigration during a rally in Kansas on Monday evening, describing France as a once-great nation that had been “conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists.”
“If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what’s happening in France,” he told supporters.
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Earlier that day, Trump had taken to Truth Social to repeat his unsubstantiated assertion that migrants had taken control of France, demanding that its leaders “CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!”
Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for Kansas, Trump also claimed he had warned Macron that he was “making a big mistake.”
The protests have brought devastation to the streets of France.
Abdul Saboor/REUTERS
“The whole world was coming in, and as you know, Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn’t the deal,” he said, adding: “We closed our borders. He didn’t.”
The White House’s official X account also weighed in on the controversy, posting: “If you import the third world, you become the third world.”
Macron responded Wednesday by accusing foreign politicians, including those “on the other side of the Atlantic,” of using France’s unrest to advance their own political agendas.
There “has been foreign manipulation of information in the aftermath” of the looting in Paris and other French cities last weekend, Macron said.
“And that has led to comments that are as unacceptable as they are stupid, from many people, including foreign leaders,” he added.
Although Macron did not initially identify Trump by name, he was asked directly whether the U.S. president was among those he was criticizing.
“Among others,” the French leader replied.
Macron also raised concerns about the circulation of fabricated material online, saying: “AI-generated images depicting scenes that never actually happened in France. We’ve had people claiming that we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false.”
There have been 1,800 arrests.
Carl Court/Getty Images
He did not identify the specific images he was referring to or explain how they had been verified.
The French president went on to express frustration with foreign politicians portraying his country as being overrun by migrants and extremists.
“The fact is, all the people who are speaking ill of our country right now are people who don’t love our country. So those people really bother me.”
Macron also criticized politicians campaigning for elections who, he argued, were repeating misleading online narratives rather than examining the circumstances behind the unrest.
“When I see leaders who are in the middle of election campaigns, whether in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic — who sometimes naively repeat AI-generated content or spread narratives that certain circles are clearly trying to promote about what happened in France — they’re using our country for their own political campaigns,” Macron said.
“And we don’t need that.”
Trump has a history of posting AI-generated slop on his Truth Social account. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Macron and Trump have had a turbulent relationship in the past.
France’s UNEF student union and the anti-establishment Yellow Vests have both called for fresh demonstrations in Paris on Saturday.
Remon Haazen/Getty Images
The two have clashed over the war in Iran, with France refusing to take part in the deeply unpopular U.S.-led military campaign.
France has also blocked Israeli planes from flying weapons through its airspace.
Meanwhile, Macron previously infuriated Trump by rejecting his invitation to join his so-called “Board of Peace,” and publicly opposed his threat to impose tariffs on eight European nations unless the U.S. secures what Trump has described as the “complete and total purchase” of Greenland.
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