US President Donald Trump has blamed France’s escalating student protests on “mass migration” and Islam, claiming the unrest is not primarily about the country’s education system.
Trump made the comments Tuesday in a post on his Truth Social platform as students, teachers and parents took to the streets across France.
“What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration,” Trump wrote.
“This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!”
Trump did not provide evidence for the claims.
The French protests began in September over deteriorating conditions in the country’s education system, including teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate facilities and concerns over students’ workloads.
The movement intensified on Tuesday, with more than 250,000 people taking part in demonstrations nationwide.
Nearly 1,800 of France’s approximately 3,700 high schools were reported to have been blockaded or closed for the day.
The demonstrations have also descended into violence in some areas.
Police fired tear gas in several cities as protesters set fires and threw objects at security forces. At least 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured since the unrest began.
France’s Interior Ministry said about 6,100 people had been arrested since the protests started, with most of those detained under the age of 18.
The government has promised measures to address some of the students’ concerns, including teacher shortages, school repairs, lunch breaks and the length of the school day.
The protests have also become a political flashpoint as France moves towards its next presidential election.
Trump’s intervention has added an international dimension to the unrest, particularly because the US president has repeatedly made immigration a central theme of his political messaging.
Members of his Make America Great Again movement have also circulated images and videos of the French protests while portraying them as evidence of wider social instability caused by migration.
Trump ally Glenn Beck described the French unrest as a warning to other Western countries, while conservative commentator Dave Rubin used footage of the demonstrations to warn that similar events could occur in the United States if Democrats regained political power.
Trump’s comments come ahead of the US midterm elections, where Republicans are seeking to maintain control of Congress.
His administration has increasingly used immigration and cultural issues as major themes in its political messaging.
The White House has also criticised European countries over migration policies and what it describes as the erosion of Western culture.
France has pushed back against outside interpretations of the protests.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said French authorities needed to communicate their own account of the unrest rather than allow other governments to define the events.
The French government’s response has centred on education and public order, while available reporting has found no established link between the student movement and religious or immigration demands.
For now, the immediate focus of the protests remains the condition of France’s schools, shortages of teachers and resources, and demands for changes to the education system.
