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Trump weighs in as France’s school protests over education funding spread nationwide
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reacted to growing student protests in France, claiming the demonstrations reflected “mass migration” and saying they were about “Islam wanting to take over” the country.“What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration. This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
More than 266,000 people took part in nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris, according to France’s Interior Ministry. The protests, which began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September, have spread across the country as students demand more funding for education.Police fired tear gas and clashed with small groups of protesters in Paris after an otherwise largely peaceful march. Nearly 500 people were detained, the ministry said.Students have been blockading schools and boycotting classes for more than two weeks. Police have made more than 6,500 arrests since the protests began, most involving minors, according to officials.The use of tear gas, batons and other riot-control weapons against teenagers has drawn criticism from students, parents and teachers.
Some student groups have called for further protests on Thursday.French interior minister Laurent Nuñez defended the police response, saying it had been proportionate in “almost all cases” and that officers had intervened when protests turned violent.Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government and school authorities needed to listen to students and address their concerns. He also condemned what he called “ultra violence” around schools and rejected allegations of racism in the police response as a “lie”.The protests have become an early flashpoint in France’s presidential election campaign, amid wider anger over public spending, poverty and wealth inequality. Rising fuel prices linked to the Iran war have added to the discontent.Felix Barney, a university student, criticised the police response as disproportionate, saying it doesn't make “any sense to hit minors.”The latest tensions also come after a 15-year-old boy lost a hand in an incident involving a police stun grenade on Monday. Nuñez said 715 police officers had been injured during the unrest.
