Kansas rally turns France into a warning

Trump blamed France's unrest on immigration before a crowd of thousands in Kansas, where the Republican senator Roger Marshall faces a surprisingly tough challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton. "If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what's happening in France", he told the rally, framing the midterm stakes through events abroad.

• Before Trump took the stage in Park City, Kansas, giant TV screens played about 10 minutes of Fox News coverage of the unrest, including commentary blaming French immigration policies
• He declared that what is happening to France is wanted for the United States: "This is what's happening to France – they want to happen to our country. It's never happening here"
• He also claimed Paris would soon be a Muslim city and said the US closed its borders while Emmanuel Macron did not, telling reporters at the White House he had warned the French president he was "making a big mistake"

What the French protests actually were

The nationwide protests Trump pointed to were called over rising fuel prices and falling purchasing power. Several cities saw disorder spread: stores were looted, police and demonstrators clashed, a historic town hall was set on fire, and the crackdown produced 1,800 arrests. By Monday, officials had imposed overnight curfews in a number of cities, among them parts of Paris.

• The demonstrations began weeks ago with high school students marching over teacher shortages, crumbling classrooms and an opaque university admissions system
• The CGT, one of the country's biggest unions, threw its weight behind the movement, calling for lower prices, higher pensions and better wages
• Anger widened to fuel prices, which have climbed since US strikes effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz

Echoes of the National Rally

Trump's rhetoric echoes France's far-right National Rally, whose president Jordan Bardella described the violence as "a convergence of ultra-left extremism and delinquent populations from the suburbs". On Monday, Trump repeated his baseless claim that migrants had taken over France, writing on Truth Social that French leaders must "CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!".

Both Trump and JD Vance have publicly backed Marine Le Pen. The unrest has added pressure on Macron six months before an April election to choose his successor.

Washington amplifies the message

The White House and senior Republicans echoed the framing, tying the unrest to the midterm argument on immigration.

• JD Vance shared a video of the historic city hall in Limoges alight and blamed the rioting on liberal failure, writing that "Western liberals imported the third world into France" and that France had ignored fundamental questions about assimilation and compatibility
• He urged Americans to pay attention as they cast their ballots, calling it the future congressional Democrats seek: "This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country"
• The official White House X account posted: "If you import the third world, you become the third world"
• House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote that "France is descending into chaos because they wanted OPEN BORDERS", calling it a chilling warning for Americans
• Senator Eric Schmitt posted that "The anti-civilization Left is devouring France. It will devour America if we let it."

Young people have also taken to the streets across Spain, Portugal and Italy over underfunded schools, housing costs and a squeeze on living standards, without drawing the same attention from Washington. Trump has not commented on protests in Albania, where demonstrators targeted the government and a luxury tourism development backed by an investment firm founded by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.