Trump: France is burning... and immigration is destroying it

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US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that immigration was the cause of the unrest taking place in France, and urged Paris to "close the borders", in the wake of widespread protests that included acts of violence.

Trump said in a post on his “Truth Social” platform: “France is burning! The immigration of people from a completely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has destroyed that once great country.”

He also added: “Close your borders and maintain control, before it is too late!”

This came after a day of violence, looting, and chaos in France that witnessed the arrest of more than 1,800 people, and overshadowed a protest scene in which hundreds of thousands participated, denouncing the high cost of living, 6 months before the presidential elections.

In Paris, as in the streets of major cities, hundreds of establishments and shops were targeted, and entire streets were covered with debris and the burning skeletons of motorcycles. Local authorities said that "entire streets were systematically vandalized."

Small groups of young men also carried out looting operations in an organized manner, as their members, wearing masks and gloves, disabled the surveillance cameras before smashing the glass facades of the stores and storming them, according to Agence France-Presse.

In Marseille (south), Lille (north), and Bordeaux (southwest), demonstrators stormed and vandalized municipal and provincial buildings. As for Limoges (central), a fire destroyed a large part of the municipal building, a huge edifice dating back to the nineteenth century, according to local authorities.

On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged via the “X” platform to pursue and punish “everyone who committed acts of sabotage, attacked institutions or companies, or participated in acts of looting.”

For his part, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that more than 1,800 people had been arrested, revealing via “X” that “investigations have been conducted to determine the identity of the perpetrators of these acts so that they can be brought to justice.”

Nuñez also explained that "more than 500 police, gendarmerie, and firefighters were injured during the violent events."

A number of demonstrators were also injured, some of them seriously, especially in Saint-Etienne (centre).

The riots were more severe than those witnessed in the 2023 protests and the “yellow vest” demonstrations in 2018 and 2019, according to Agence France-Presse.