Paris, France – As France reels from violent clashes during protests, riots and looting, the blame game is on.
One argument making waves across the political spectrum – and across the Atlantic – is that migrants and open-border policies are responsible.
“If Europe doesn’t close its borders and bring the criminals out, like the people that are protesting, Europe is finished,” United States President Donald Trump said at the White House on Monday. “When I look at France, when you look at Italy , when you look at all the turmoil and the hatred – that’s not about school. That’s about people coming into the countries that hate the country.”
French President Emmanuel Macron later slammed “stupid comments by many, including foreign leaders” about the unrest.
Speaking during a visit in Qatar, he said there was no evidence of foreign interference behind the riots.
Young student protesters in France were unimpressed by Trump’s intervention.
Bilal Narjissi, a 17-year-old student at the Paul Eluard high school near Paris, one of the first to witness protests, called it “stupid talk”.
“They can think whatever they like. We’re focusing on the main subject, which is the students’ demands,” Narjissi said. “The far right has to say these kinds of things because they base their politics and political programmes on instilling fear.”
Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute for European Perspective and Security Studies, a think tank on diplomacy and political analysis, said Trump’s argument was aimed at American voters.
“It’s an artificial argument used as a political tool in the context of midterm elections,” he said. “They are trying to argue that what is happening in France would happen in the US if Democrats get elected.”
Trump’s comments came after largely peaceful high school student demonstrations in France descended into chaos over the weekend when rioters attacked city halls and looted stores, marking the most violent unrest in France in years.
More than 2,000 people were placed in police custody – the vast majority of them minors – and thousands of businesses were ransacked. Accused of letting the situation spiral, French authorities imposed partial and temporary curfews in certain cities across the country, including in areas of Paris.
While concerns over dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classes and teacher shortages were at the fore, the protest movement quickly catalysed wider discontent over the cost of living and social unease.
Italy, Albania and Spain have seen similar demonstrations.
French authorities have not linked crime with migration. The state does not share the identities of people arrested and sent to trial.
Under constitutional laws aimed at equality, it is illegal to collect data on ethnicity and race.
Both far-right leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen and politicians from the centrist bloc, including Macron and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, have accused hard-left groups of fomenting disorder.
The wave of protests seems to have struck a nerve across the European bloc, too.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said it was now “clear to everyone why Hungary takes the toughest possible stance on immigration”, posting on X a video showing buildings burning in France.
Without explicitly referring to events in France, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk also weighed in. “Poland will not repeat the mistakes of other European countries, nor will it pay for them,” he asserted on X a day after the mass demonstrations and looting in France. “We will be uncompromising on security.”
Dupuy said the origin of those who joined the violence was beside the point.
“These protesters were high school students; then professional black bloc and looters joined, too – whether they came from a third or fourth generation of former migrants is irrelevant,” he said. “Eventually, this is a problem of integration, not immigration.”
The US is in campaigning mode as it gears up for key elections in early November that will determine who dominates Congress.
With all eyes on midterms, Republicans seem eager to capitalise on unrest in Europe to rally support for Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and its tough policies on immigration and border measures.
“Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion,” US Vice President JD Vance said on X. “They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility.”
Some critics have argued that Trump is trying to divert attention from the US’s cost-of-living crisis. Costs are rising in the US amid the Iran war he launched and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent energy prices to new heights.
What is happening in France, Trump said, should be a cautionary tale for American voters.
“If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what’s happening in France,” he said, doubling down at a rally in the US state of Kansas.
