Donald Trump has criticised Emmanuel Macron’s border policies, claiming the riots across France are the result of mass migration, as he insists the French president made a ‘big mistake’ by not closing his borders.
Donald Trump has taken aim at Emmanuel Macron (Image: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump has issued renewed criticism of Emmanuel Macron’s immigration policies, claiming the unrest in France stems from mass migration. The American leader says he warned Macron ‘a long time ago’ to close the French borders.
In his latest broadside against the French president, Trump asserts “Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon”. Discussing the French riots, Trump declared he “told him [Macron] a long time ago, you’re making a big mistake in France.”
Trump added: “You’re letting everybody from the world come in. The whole world was coming in and Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn’t the deal.”
Weeks of student demonstrations over school conditions in France have spiralled into widespread riots and anti-government protests featuring burning buildings, violence and arrests. The movement intensified following the government’s announcement of significant spending cuts and a wage freeze for state employees.
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French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out about the tragedy (Image: Tschaen Eric/Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock)
Thousands have now been detained across the country with thousands of injuries sustained by both protesters and law enforcement personnel.
Trump went on: “I told Emmanuel you should close up your borders. I’ve known him for maybe eight or nine years and I told him as soon as I met him, I said ‘you’re making a big mistake’.
“We closed our borders. He didn’t. His borders are a problem and he also has a little bit of a problem with energy. Emmanuel should’ve closed his borders a long time ago. I told him to do it.”
Mandatory Credit: Photo by MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA/Shutterstock (17223452t)A French firefighter responds to a street barricade burns as clashes between riot police and demonstrators continue for the second day during nationwide protests against the high cost of living in Paris, France, 18 October 2026.Police clash with protesters during second day of high cost-of-living protests in Paris, France – 18 Oct 2026 (Image: MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA/Shutterstock)
Trump made the remarks before departing for a campaign rally in Wichita, Kansas. This is not the first occasion on which he has attributed the outbreak of unrest in France to immigration.
The comments came just a day after Macron condemned the protests in a televised address.
The French president denounced the “unbridled violence” following one of the most turbulent days of disorder in years, which left buildings ablaze, hundreds of shops ransacked and at least 2,400 people detained.
The French leader said: “Watching these images, we have all asked ourselves how could French people do this to France?”.
He went on to state that “nothing justifies” violence, as curfews were introduced across certain areas of the country.
Conscription age limit for men as UK told ‘prepare for war’
If World War 3 breaks out, men of these ages could be forced to join the UK’s army and fight in Europe.
Pat McFadden discusses prospect of conscription in 2025
Preparation for WW3 worst-case scenarios could be stepped up after the head of the army called on the UK’s political leaders to start a ‘frank conversation’ with the public about preparing for war.
General Sir Roly Walker told Sky News that ‘every’ citizen will be ‘asked to make sacrifices’ and play their part in the defence of the country.
It comes in the wake of escalation between Russia and Ukraine as the US, unthinkably, appears to be siding with Russia. US President Trump has in the past week urged Ukraine to ‘get a new leader’ after signing a deal with Russia for diesel supplies, and has increasingly blamed the global price of diesel on Ukraine’s refusal to surrender to Putin, rather than the US’ war with Iran.
It’s not something anyone wants to think about, but as tensions escalate around the world, there is a possibility that World War 3 could erupt. Just this past summer, the UK government last year told people to prepare for war on British soil, and is urging better preparedness for conflict across society.
British people could be forced to join the army if WW3 breaks out (Image: Getty)
Assuming tensions continue to ramp up and a new global conflict were to erupt, there are some indicators about what would happen if the UK went to war and needed to introduce conscription, or mandatory military service, whether in a WW3 situation or not.
In WW2, conscription began for men aged between 20 and 22 in 1939, up to six months before the war actually broke out.
The UK Parliament website says: “During the spring of 1939, the deteriorating international situation forced the British government under Neville Chamberlain to consider preparations for a possible war against Nazi Germany. Plans for limited conscription applying to single men aged between 20 and 22 were given parliamentary approval in the Military Training Act in May 1939. This required men to undertake six months’ military training, and some 240,000 registered for service.”
But when war was declared, the age range was immediately widened to any man aged 18 to 41.
It continues: “On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3 September 1939, Parliament immediately passed a more wide-reaching measure. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service.”
The only men who weren’t called up were those who were too unfit medically, or who worked in vital industries like baking, farming, and medicine, which were vital to the war effort.
It adds: “Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering.”
By the end of 1941, women and ‘all childless widows’ between the ages of 20 and 30 were called up, while men aged up to 51 were called up for military service. Even those aged 52 to 60 were required to take part in “some form of military service.”
In 2024, Grant Shapps, who at the time was Defence Secretary, said that we are “moving from a post-war to a pre-war world”, and General Sir Patrick Sanders, Britain’s most senior army officer, called for an increase in the size of the army and said that the country needed to increase preparedness for conflict.
It isn’t clear what would happen to those refusing to serve in a potential WW3 scenario, but in WW2, British ‘conscientious objectors’ were put on trial, with some given mandatory jobs to contribute to the war effort in other ways instead.