US President Donald Trump blamed immigration for the wave of unrest sweeping France in a Truth Social post on Sunday, after weeks of protests over rising living costs and deteriorating public services escalated into widespread violence across several major cities.
"France is burning!" Trump wrote, accusing immigrants from vastly different cultural backgrounds of contributing to the country's decline.
"The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country," he continued.
Trump urged French authorities to act immediately, writing, "Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!"
His remarks followed one of France's most violent days of civil unrest in recent years, as demonstrations that had continued for weeks descended into rioting on Saturday, with government buildings set ablaze, stores looted and protesters clashing with police.
Government buildings torched as protests turn violent
In the central French city of Limoges, a fire engulfed the 143-year-old city hall on Saturday, with footage showing the building's spire collapsing, CNN reported Sunday, and in Marseille, masked individuals dressed in black forced their way into city hall and vandalized the property.
In another incident, CNN reported the city's tourist office was set on fire in Lyon as violence spread through the streets,
The protest movement began last month among high school students in Paris's economically disadvantaged northern suburbs, where frustration over teacher shortages and deteriorating school facilities developed into a broader campaign against inequality, rising living costs and declining public services.
Although most demonstrators protested peacefully, smaller groups engaged in violent confrontations with police, vandalized public buildings and looted stores, including luxury boutiques and supermarkets.
French authorities reported attacks targeting police officers, media personnel and government property in several cities, as security forces struggled to contain the violence.
French government vows crackdown on rioters
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned the destruction and said the government would not be "intimidated" by those responsible. He blamed the violence on the "ultra-left" and criminals, warning against attempts to exploit the unrest for political purposes ahead of next year's presidential election.
"To those who clearly want to use this violence as a 'warm-up' before the presidential election, I say clearly: We will not let ourselves be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence," he wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
Lecornu said approximately 1,200 people had been arrested during the unrest while visiting affected areas Saturday evening.
The demonstrations drew hundreds of thousands of participants nationwide. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez estimated the turnout at approximately 550,000, while the CGT labor union and other organizers placed the figure at 800,000.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attacks, pledging to prosecute those responsible for the destruction.
"We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who only seek to undermine our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so," he wrote on X.
Macron is to address the nation in a televised broadcast on Sunday evening.