U.S. President Donald Trump used the protests roiling France to score some quick political points on Monday (October 19, 2026), as the upcoming midterm elections force his Republican party to face strong headwinds.
At a rally in Kansas, the U.S. President launched into a lengthy tirade about France, which he said was being “conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists.”
“And we’re not going to let that happen to this country,” he added.
While speaking with reporters previously in the day, Mr. Trump recalled an exchange with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron: “I told him a long time ago, you’re making a big mistake in France. You’re letting everybody from the world come in...Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon.”
Earlier on Monday (October 19, 2026), the 80-year-old President wrote on his Truth Social platform: “The migrants have taken over France. They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!”
Cost-of-living demonstrations broke out across France over the weekend, with many devolving into looting and violent conflict, prompting officials to institute partial curfews on Monday (October 19, 2026).
While the French protests were inspired by soaring inflation, Trump has molded the violent clashes with police into evidence in favor of the anti-immigration policies he used to successfully campaign for reelection in 2024.
A fire burns, as police officers in riot gear stand guard, during civil unrest, the day after a national day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, in Paris. | Photo Credit: Reuters
“They’re taking this French crisis and turning it into a campaign argument,” J.C. Lintzenich, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund think tank, told AFP.
Conservative talking points
Opinion polls heavily favour Mr. Trump’s rival Democratic Party in the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine who will take control of Congress.
With just two weeks to go before Americans go to the polls, Mr. Trump has grasped any strategy he can to compel voters to support the Republican party and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
“Since the beginning of the MAGA movement, Europe has been an extension of the US political battlefield, so it’s not surprising that when there are events like the unrest from October 17, the political machine gets moving,” Justin Vaisse, a professor of U.S. foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP.
As videos of France’s unrest began surfacing on social media, Vice President J.D. Vance wrote Saturday (October 17, 2026) on X: “Western liberals imported the third world into France...they ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility.”
Right-wing U.S. media personalities, including Glenn Beck, Benny Johnson, Nick Sortor and Jack Posobiec made similar points, blaming immigrants from Muslim-majority countries for causing a crisis in Western identity.
“The riots are viewed as validation of the warnings against immigration in general and Muslim immigration, if such a thing exists,” Vaisse said.
Celia Belin, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and head of its Paris office, views the commentary as an “export of domestic policies” from a US administration that openly supports nationalist parties in Europe.
A person walks as flames rise during civil unrest, the day after a national day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, in Paris | Photo Credit: Reuters
She told AFP that Mr. Trump and his allies “rushed into this argument, the same one that Vance had presented in Munich” in 2025, in a controversial speech described as a US culture war against Europe, with the goal of “fanning the flames.”
Polling priorities
Experts note that this rhetorical strategy, while it may have succeeded in 2024, is not necessarily what US voters want to hear these days.
“When you look at the campaign ads here — I’m in South Carolina right now -- it’s about healthcare, domestic issues,” Lintzenich said.
“The international element is a blip on the radar, and Ukraine, and Iran, and other ongoing national security issues rate higher than the current French instability,” he continued.
A demonstrator is detained during civil unrest, the day after a national day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, in Paris. | Photo Credit: Reuters
A Pew Research poll this month found the economy plays an important role in the choice of 82% of U.S. voters, a far higher number than immigration (59%) or race-related issues (36%).
Though Mr. Trump has followed through on his 2024 campaign promise to crack down on immigration, he has fared less successfully on his other promise to tamp down on inflation, with his tariff policies and war with Iran spiking prices across the economy, plunging his approval rating to record lows.
Vaisse said using linking U.S. identitarian rhetoric with the events in France “is not going to win a single vote” for Republicans, though it could “mobilize the base” to vote.