Trump's posts on the unrest

Donald Trump has returned to the unrest in France, arguing that migration is behind the disturbances and urging Paris to shut its borders. His Monday, 19 October message was his second on the crisis in less than 24 hours, following a Sunday afternoon post in which he said migration was setting the country on fire. The violence followed weekend demonstrations that escalated into widespread looting and clashes with police, while the protests began with student mobilisations and the yellow vest movement. Trump also shared a video of the damage rioters had caused, posted shortly after his Sunday message. In one of his posts, Trump wrote:

“Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”

Vance, the Kremlin and European far-right voices

Vice President JD Vance posted on X a few hours before Trump's Sunday message, blaming Western liberals for importing 'Third World' migration into France and ignoring assimilation. He shared a video of a fire at the town hall in Limoges and prayed that France would end what he called this madness before more of its monuments burned. Vance also said he hoped Americans were paying attention, arguing that the future he described was what Democrats in Congress wanted for their country. Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's presidential envoy, called the unrest Western civilisation's self-destruction, arguing the West had failed to fix its mistakes on migration, energy and warmongering. In Germany, Alice Weidel of the Alternative for Germany called the violence an assault on Western civilisation by migrant mobs and far-left agitators. In Spain, Vox leader Santiago Abascal posted on X that Europe faces what he called Islamo-leftism, and he described barbarians destroying what was left of beauty and civilisation.

Russia ties and energy policy

The Independent noted that the comments show Trump's movement and the Kremlin sharing positions on immigration, religion and anti-liberal ideas. Trump also appears increasingly open to cooperating with Russia despite the country's pariah status over its invasion of Ukraine. On 9 October, Trump and Putin agreed to let Russian diesel into the US to ease petrol prices that had climbed. In the days afterwards, Trump froze new sanctions on Russian oil and gas, which drew sharp criticism from European allies. Emmanuel Macron had earlier criticised the energy arrangement at an EU summit in Brussels, saying that waiving sanctions on Moscow creates doubts and defiance among Western partners without steadying global energy markets. European far-right parties have used the riots to attack immigration across the continent, often in openly Islamophobic terms.

Midterms and pressure on Macron

Trump has been touring US states to back Republican candidates before the November midterms, repeatedly claiming that illegal migration flows had been brought to zero in contrast with Joe Biden's policies. Vance's warning to American voters tied the French crisis to the Democrats' prospects in those midterms. Macron faces growing pressure six months before the election to succeed him, and he must deal with the widespread damage caused by the violence. The unrest has become a point of comparison in the US campaign, with Trump and Vance presenting France as a warning about immigration.