Trump Tells France to Expel Migrants as Protests Spread Across Europe

President Donald Trump said France must remove migrants from its territory as protests over local grievances filled French streets and spread to Rome and Tirana. "It's not a school problem. It's an immigration problem," Trump told Fox News Digital on Tuesday night after rallying in Texas for Republican candidates ahead of next week's midterms.

Trump said he has pressed French President Emmanuel Macron on the issue for a decade. "I've been saying that to President Macron for a long time, who I like a lot, by the way," Trump said. "But I said, 'You're going to end up losing your country if you don't do something.'" Trump said he spoke earlier this week with U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner about France's immigration situation.

"You have people that hate France," Trump said. "They hate the buildings, hate the art, they hate the people. And they're in there, and you have to get them out." He called the situation in France and across Europe "very sad" and added, "Something has to happen, and they better do something." Trump has raised immigration concerns in Europe since his 2016 presidential campaign; Macron became president in 2017. Trump has also credited his own immigration policies with preventing similar unrest in the U.S.

Macron said last week that foreign leaders making comments about France were engaging in "unacceptable and even stupid" behavior and said such remarks were false claims made for political gain. He did not name Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said "nearly 1,000 people" were arrested Saturday as nationwide protests resumed. Macron said "ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic" are leading the protests and that gatherings organized by "individuals or groups with no legitimate authority" would be banned.

Macron said anyone who loots or damages property will be forced to pay for it, and tens of thousands of police remained deployed. Protests also hit Rome and Tirana, Albania's capital, this month, where demonstrators set government buildings on fire.