Trump urges Europe to close borders after France riots over costs

US President Donald Trump has urged European countries to close their borders and take control of migration, reacting to the unrest in France. “France is burning! Immigration of people from a completely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has destroyed this once great country,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform.

What happened in France

Protests against the high cost of living in France turned into outright violence, with looted shops and widespread destruction. French police detained 2,397 people in connection with the violence at Saturday’s demonstrations. Nearly a thousand police officers and firefighters were injured. The material damage is still being tallied.

Politicians react

“Close your borders and take control before it’s too late!” Trump added. Vice President J.D. Vance took a similar line. According to him, “Western liberals, in the name of diversity and compassion, imported the third world into France and other countries, neglecting the fundamental questions of assimilation and mutual compatibility.” Vance wrote this on X under a video of the burning town hall in the French city of Limoges. “They were warned it would end like this, but they didn’t listen,” he added, saying he was praying that France, “a beautiful country with wonderful people,” would put an end to this madness before more landmarks burn.

Vance urged Americans to pay attention: “this is the future congressional Democrats want for your country.” The United States holds key elections to both chambers of Congress on 3 November.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar also spoke about migration in connection with events in France: “Faced with senseless destruction and unjustifiable violence, it may be clear to everyone why Hungary advocated the strictest possible approach to migration.” According to him, most European countries want to change their overly lax migration policies of the past. “Let’s hope it is not too late,” he said.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz