In October 2026, US President Donald Trump criticized French immigration policies, asserting that France had allowed too many people to enter its territory without sufficient restrictions. The remarks came as France faced growing unrest, though Trump tied the turmoil directly to what he described as lax border controls.
Later that month, on October 20, 2026, Trump addressed reporters in Washington, D.C., linking the violent protests sweeping French cities to immigration. He told European leaders, especially French President Emmanuel Macron, to close their borders, echoing the stance he had taken during his 2024 campaign. Trump argued that the unrest was not about schools or any other issue but solely about who was allowed to come into France.
‘Close up your borders’ – Trump blames French unrest on immigration https://t.co/JJqAzUbZdC https://t.co/Cqo2h6u9Rp
Also on October 20, Trump warned that Europe risked collapse if it did not shut its borders and remove criminals and immigrants. He framed the situation as existential, suggesting that failure to act would lead to serious consequences for the continent. The warning was part of a broader pattern in which Trump portrayed immigration as a threat to national stability.
These measures were presented as a domestic response to the riots, even as Trump continued to press for a continental border shutdown.
Amid the Trump‑driven narrative, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered authorities to introduce targeted curfews after a weekend of violence. Nearly 2,400 people were arrested across France during the unrest. These measures were presented as a domestic response to the riots, even as Trump continued to press for a continental border shutdown.
Trump repeatedly reminded Macron of their long acquaintance, saying he had known the French president for "maybe eight or nine years" and had warned him early on that he was "making a big mistake." He told Macron directly to "close up your borders," insisting that the French leader had ignored advice given years earlier in Trump’s first term. The former president framed his counsel as a friendly warning rooted in years of interaction.
A central claim in Trump’s commentary was that "Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn’t the deal." He repeated this sentence in English, in a Hindi translation that conveyed the same meaning, and in multiple variations throughout his statements. The phrase served as a shorthand for his belief that France’s immigration trajectory was fundamentally altering the nation’s character.
Trump insisted that the French unrest had "to do with immigration, not schools, not anything." He returned to this formulation several times, emphasizing that he saw no other explanatory factor for the violence. By narrowing the cause to immigration alone, he sought to deflect attention from domestic policy debates in France.
Highlighting his own record, Trump declared, "We closed our borders. He didn’t," contrasting the United States’ approach under his administration with what he perceived as France’s openness. He later broadened the appeal, stating that "Europe has to close its borders, like I’ve been telling them for 10 years," positioning himself as a long‑standing advocate of strict immigration controls across the Atlantic.
As of late October 2026, France continued to experience protests and looting, while Trump maintained his pressure on European leaders to seal their borders and remove those he labeled criminals. The former president’s rhetoric remained fixed on the idea that immigration was the root cause of the turmoil, and that only a continent‑wide closure could avert further unrest.