October 20, 2026
US President Donald Trump has become aware of the widespread needs and unrest taking place in France, calling on the capital, Paris, to close its borders and tighten controls on them, and holding the immigration file responsible for what he described as the disintegration of the country’s internal fabric.
In a blog post on his “Truth Social” platform, Trump said: “France is burning! The immigration of people from a completely different world, people who carry hatred in their hearts, has torn apart that once great country,” adding: “Close your borders and tighten control, before it is too late!”
Trump’s statements came the day after a heated day of protest in French cities, which included widespread riots that included setting fire to a municipal building, looting that affected several stores, drawings and writings on the facades of buildings, as well as violent confrontations between demonstrators and security forces.
The protests resulted in the death of a demonstrator in Paris after suffering a heart attack, while the French police recorded unprecedented numbers of arresting 855 people in the capital alone. At the national level, the Minister of Interior announced the arrest of about 1,800 people in total, and the injury of more than 500 members of the security forces.
More than half a million people participated in demonstrations that spread across dozens of French cities, in a scene that embodied the intersection of a student movement that has been ongoing for about a month with the escalation of social discontent resulting from the high cost of living and the decline in public services.
In the wake of these developments, the Elysee Palace announced that French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation at eight o’clock on Sunday evening local time (six p.m. GMT).
These events put France before a complex security and social test, amid the expansion of protests and the tangle of internal crises, at a time when the issue has moved to the forefront of external debate against the backdrop of Trump’s tough calls regarding border and immigration policies.
