President Donald Trump said he warned French President Emmanuel Macron that his immigration policies were “destroying France” as he raised concerns about unrest across Europe during an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“I told Macron, when I first came in, I met him early. I said, ‘You are destroying France. You’re letting people come in that hate your country,'” Trump told Larry Kudlow.
Trump criticized France for allowing people into the country who he said opposed French culture and national identity. He also pointed to unrest in Spain and Italy while arguing that his administration’s border enforcement policies had prevented similar problems in the United States.
“The people that are causing the problems are people that hate Spain and hate France and hate Italy,” he said. “It’s very interesting. Somebody said, ‘They hate their art, they hate the buildings, they hate everything about France. They hate the people. And they let them come in.’”
Macron said on Thursday that his government would move to ban protests organized by “individuals or groups with no legitimate authority” as he blamed “ultra-left groups” for the riots and looting that had spread across his country.
Trump’s comments come after nearly 1,000 people were arrested in France on Saturday as nationwide protests resumed, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. Violence also erupted in Rome and the Albanian capital of Tirana, where protesters set government buildings ablaze.
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The nationwide marches reflected growing dissatisfaction with the French government, as protesters took to the streets over a range of grievances.
The protests began weeks earlier and were led by high school and university students who were frustrated with teacher shortages and poor school conditions. The movement gained momentum when major labor unions joined the demonstrations, expanding the movement to include opposition to government austerity measures and concerns about wages, pensions and the cost of living.
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Asked whether Americans should worry about similar unrest erupting in the United States, Trump pointed to his administration’s border security measures.
“I think I stopped it. I closed the border. You know that we’ve had zero infiltration. We’ve had 0 illegal aliens in the last 18 months. It’s almost not believable,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security reported a 95% drop in southwest border apprehensions compared to the Biden administration, along with the first fiscal year with zero Border Patrol releases.
Fox News Digital reached out to Macron’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.