Macron Hits Out at “Stupid” Comments From Foreign Leaders After Trump Blames Migrants for French Unrest

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday criticised world leaders for making what he called unacceptable and stupid remarks about the weekend riots in France, an apparent rebuke of US President Donald Trump, who has blamed migrants for the unrest.

Speaking in Doha, Macron said foreign leaders, including some on the other side of the Atlantic, were exploiting France’s tense social climate for their own political agendas. He pointed to what he called foreign manipulation of information after the looting in Paris and other cities, including AI-generated images of scenes that never happened in France and claims that the country was being overrun by migrants and Islamists, which he said were false.

Asked by a reporter whether he meant Trump, he replied that Trump was among others. French media also read the remarks as a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also made similar claims as Donald Trump. Macron said he did not see foreign interference in the unrest itself, and added that people who speak ill of France do not love it.

Trump claimed on Monday, without evidence, that France was being conquered, looted and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists and communists, and urged Macron to close his borders. On Tuesday he referred approvingly to remarks by Vice President JD Vance and said concerns over education and living costs were not behind the protests. He has also praised far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the frontrunner in next year’s presidential election, as a conservative voice.

The riots broke out on the fringes of nationwide demonstrations over rising living costs, which began as student protests over crumbling schools. Another wave of protests is planned for Saturday.