French President Emmanuel Macron has criticised US President Donald Trump and other foreign leaders for allegedly exploiting unrest in France for political gain, describing their claims about Muslim migrants as “unacceptable” and “stupid”.
Protests over rising living costs have triggered widespread rioting and looting in France, with violence reported in Paris and other cities over the weekend.
Trump has used the unrest to rally his political supporters, making unsubstantiated claims that Muslim migrants were responsible for the violence. He also urged Macron to close France’s borders and take control of the situation.
Speaking on Wednesday, Macron said foreign actors had manipulated information following the unrest and spread misleading accounts of events in the country.
Asked whether he was referring to Trump when he criticised foreign leaders, Macron replied, “Among others.”
The French president also said artificial intelligence-generated images had circulated online, depicting events that never occurred in France. He rejected claims that the country had been “invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists”, describing them as completely false.
Macron did not identify the specific images he was referring to or explain how their authenticity had been established.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said his ministry could provide the countries concerned with clarifications to prevent them from spreading or amplifying false information and making baseless claims on social media.
Macron, who was speaking in Qatar at the end of a tour of key energy suppliers in the Gulf, accused politicians facing election campaigns of using France’s difficulties to advance their own political interests.
He said some leaders were repeating AI-generated content or promoting narratives pushed by certain groups about the unrest.
“The fact is, all the people who are speaking ill of our country right now are people who don’t love our country,” Macron said, adding that such comments bothered him.
Macron and Trump previously maintained a cordial relationship, but the US president has repeatedly mocked his French counterpart in public speeches.
The French president’s Gulf tour also focused on securing additional energy supplies as France grapples with rising energy costs.
His office said the visit was aimed at securing supplies of oil, gas, diesel and jet fuel. Macron secured an additional 100,000 metric tonnes of diesel per month from the United Arab Emirates, while another 100,000 tonnes was expected to be confirmed in Bahrain.
The Élysée Palace said France could secure nearly 295,000 additional tonnes of diesel monthly, including supplies from Saudi Arabia. The volume would represent more than 10 per cent of France’s monthly diesel consumption.
