Donald Trump used serious incidents in France to warn about migration and also said that Spain had been invaded by immigrants and was doing nothing about it. His remarks sit inside a wider argument over the unrest, which has also drawn responses from Paris and from Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking in Doha at the close of a Middle East tour aimed at securing hydrocarbon supplies, President Emmanuel Macron appeared with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Macron said it was completely false that France had been invaded by Islamist immigrants and described warnings about hordes of Islamist immigrants as absolute fallacies. He said there was no visible external interference, but that foreign manipulation of information, including fake images generated by artificial intelligence and cited in checks by Chequeo concerning France, had produced stupid and unacceptable comments from foreign leaders. Asked whether those remarks were aimed at Trump, he replied that Trump was among others.
Macron also rejected Netanyahu’s earlier description of the crisis as an invasion of extremist Islamism. He said that people speaking badly of France at this moment do not want France, that such people annoy him, and that many people campaign at France’s expense.
Marine Le Pen called the president’s statements serious, saying he denies reality and tries to avoid his responsibilities for the country’s situation. She said that if France is today on the brink of civil war and of default, he bears the main responsibility, and that a change of power would allow the rebirth of a France that is more fractured than ever.
The dispute comes after protests over the rising cost of a basic basket of goods, inflation, falling wages and sharp housing adjustments. Images circulating internationally showed those protests turning into looting and widespread damage over the past weekend. The government imposed partial curfews and banned mass gatherings in the worst-affected cities, and more than 120 detainees remained in custody after a quiet night. Macron refused the state of emergency sought by the opposition. He said that in a democracy no violence is legitimate, whether verbal or physical, against people or property, and he promised a meeting with the leadership of the intelligence services to examine the incidents.