Trump tells France to "close the borders" as protests and looting spread nationwide
US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social calling on France to close its borders amid nationwide protests, blaming immigration for unrest that French and other international outlets attribute to inequality and the cost of living. More than half a million people marched in dozens of French cities on 17 October, with hundreds of shops looted, historic town halls set on fire, more than 500 police officers injured and nearly 1,800 people detained. French President Emmanuel Macron was scheduled to address the nation the same evening. Smaller, more violent protests also broke out in Brussels, Liège, and Milan.
Key points
- Trump posted on Truth Social that immigration "destroyed this once great country" and urged France to close its borders.
- On 17 October, marches in dozens of French cities drew more than half a million people, with estimates ranging from around 550,000 (government) to around 800,000 (organizers).
- Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported more than 500 law enforcement officers injured, nearly 1,800 people detained nationwide, and 855 detained in Paris alone.
- A fire destroyed the roof of the historic Limoges town hall; the city's mayor said there was a "clear, deliberate intention" to burn it down.
- Protests, looting and arson also spread to Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lille; hundreds of stores were damaged.
- PM Sébastien Lecornu blamed "the ultra-left" and La France insoumise for the violence; Jean-Luc Mélenchon blamed the government in return.
- Similar protests spilled into Brussels, Liège and Milan, where police used tear gas and water cannons.
Why it matters
The intervention gives an American president a high-profile platform to relabel a French domestic crisis as a problem of immigration, in open contrast to how French and other international media explain the unrest. The scale of damage — historic town halls set on fire, hundreds of shops looted, more than 500 police injured and nearly 1,800 people detained — marks the unrest as the largest in France in several years, according to The New York Times. Spillover into Brussels, Liège and Milan suggests the movement resonates across borders. Macron's scheduled evening address treats the situation as a national crisis, and the unrest lands during a 2027 presidential election cycle in which Macron cannot run, raising the political stakes for all sides.
What happened
On 17 October, marches in dozens of French cities drew more than half a million people, according to French and international reporting. The marches were mostly peaceful, but small radical groups attacked government buildings, police officers and their vehicles, and looted boutiques and supermarkets. A fire destroyed the roof of the 143-year-old Limoges town hall; the city's mayor, Guillaume Guérin, said there was a "clear, deliberate intention" to set it ablaze, and he threatened to resign if Limoges did not receive one million euros for repairs. In Lyon, the tourist office on Place Bellecour was damaged by arson; in Marseille, protesters entered the city hall and damaged a police station; in Bordeaux, a masked crowd broke into the prefect's residence and up to 100 shops were looted; in Lille, people entered the city hall, damaged and set fire to shops. Near Place de la République in Paris, windows were smashed, bicycles burned, and a hotel was seriously damaged. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported more than 500 law enforcement officers injured, nearly 1,800 people detained nationwide, and 855 detained in Paris alone — described as a record. One protester died of a heart attack in Paris, according to Reuters. Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard reported 50 of the chain's stores affected, 20 of them looted, with damages in the tens of millions of euros. PM Sébastien Lecornu blamed "the ultra-left" and directly named Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France insoumise for the violence. Mélenchon responded by blaming the government. Macron wrote on X that all who attacked and looted would be punished, and the Élysée Palace said he would address the nation at 20:00 local time. Outside France, protests spilled into Brussels (500–600 people near Brussels-South station), Liège, and Milan, where a march turned violent with masked protesters throwing stones at police and burning barricades built from bar tables.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All three supplied sources are Ukrainian-language outlets, and Ukrainian reporting prominently features Trump's Truth Social post, amplifying his "France is burning" framing in headlines. The Ukrainian coverage foregrounds Trump's immigration-based explanation of the unrest alongside the scale of the damage in French cities, rather than the cost-of-living explanation dominant in French and other international media.
Where reporting differs
Several figures and details vary across sources. On Trump's platform: most sources, including ЛІГА.net and ZN.UA, say the post appeared on Truth Social, while ZN.UA also notes a version citing X. On the Limoges town hall: ZN.UA describes it as 143 years old; НВ describes it as a 19th-century building. On the size of the crackdown: Interior Minister Nunez said nearly 1,800 detainees nationally with 855 in Paris and more than 500 police injured, while НВ, citing Lecornu, gives around 1,200 detainees and about 150 injured officers. On turnout, Le Monde reports the government estimated around 550,000 participants while organizers claimed around 800,000.
Background
The unrest began in September with complaints about school conditions and teacher shortages in working-class suburbs, then broadened into a movement against inequality, cuts to public spending, and the rising cost of living. The French government and Prime Minister Lecornu have blamed ultra-left forces and La France insoumise for the violence; Jean-Luc Mélenchon has in turn blamed the government. Trump has named immigration as the cause, putting his framing in open contrast with French and international media that point to inequality, austerity and living costs. French presidential elections are scheduled for 2027, and Macron is not eligible to run.