Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday issued a stark warning about the future of Europe, asserting that France and the broader continent face collapse unless they seal their borders and deport migrants who “hate their countries”, amid ongoing protests.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump attributed the unrest in France primarily to immigration, rejecting suggestions that it was linked to education or domestic policy issues.
“Well, France, it is a very sad situation what’s happening in France, because what’s happening in France has to do with immigration, not schools, not anything. It’s immigration,” Trump said. “And I told President Macron, close up your borders. I told him the first time I met him, which was years ago in my first term. Close up your borders; you’re going to have nothing but trouble. And they’ve got a lot of trouble. They let people into their country that don’t love their country; they don’t love their buildings; they don’t love their art.”
Responding to French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks attributing the rioting to energy strains and broader geopolitical spillovers from US policies, Trump defended his long-standing advice to the French leader while raising concerns about demographic changes.
“Emmanuel, look, he’s a friend of mine. I told him a long time ago, you’re making a big mistake in France. You’re letting everybody from the world come in. The whole world is coming in,” Trump said. “And, as you know, Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon. And that wasn’t the deal. That wasn’t the deal. I told Emmanuel, you should close up your borders.”
Comparing France's border policies with those of the United States, Trump said, “We closed our borders, he didn’t. And you know what? His borders are a problem, and he also has a little bit of a problem with energy, but they have done, you know, they're doing better than others. But Emmanuel should have closed his borders a long time ago, I told him to do it.”
When asked directly about the future of Europe, Trump warned that European nations must carry out mass deportations of violent protesters and criminals to preserve their sovereignty.
“If Europe doesn’t close its borders and bring the criminals out, like the people that protest, Europe is finished,” Trump said. “Europe has to close its borders, like I’ve been telling them for 10 years. They have to close their borders, and they have to take people that hate their countries out, because otherwise they’re finished. They will not have a chance of survival.”
Citing unrest in France, Italy and other European countries, Trump reiterated his position that immigration was responsible for the violence.
“When I look at France, when you look at Italy, when you look at all the turmoil and the hatred, that’s not about school, that’s about people coming into the countries that hate the countries. They hate the buildings, they hate the people, they hate the art. They have to close their borders, and they have to take those bad people out,” he said.
Trump's remarks come as local authorities in Bordeaux have introduced a week-long night curfew for unaccompanied minors following severe unrest and widespread looting across the city centre over the weekend.
The order was announced on Monday by Sophie Brocas, prefect of Gironde and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Effective from Tuesday until the morning of 26 October, the curfew restricts minors under 18 from being in public spaces between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
The measure follows riots on Saturday, which officials described as having “an unprecedented level of violence”. Several thousand rioters targeted commercial hubs in central Bordeaux, smashing storefronts and ransacking shops.