Follow-Up: Trump Says Paris Will Become "a Muslim City Very Soon," Urges Macron to Close Borders
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House on October 19, as he departed for Kansas, that Paris is "going to be a Muslim city very soon," and again urged French President Emmanuel Macron to close France's borders and reduce migration into the country.
"As you know, Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon, and that wasn't the deal. That wasn't the deal. I told Emmanuel, 'You should close up your borders,'" Trump said. He said he had warned Macron long ago: "You're making a big mistake in France. You're letting everybody from the world come in. The whole world was coming in." Trump said he had urged Macron for years to end mass migration, adding, "His borders are a problem."
Trump made the remarks when a reporter asked about Macron blaming his nation's discontent on the U.S. leader's war with Iran, which increased global fuel costs. According to USA Today, Macron said on October 18 that skyrocketing energy prices stemmed from Trump's war against Iran, which "France was not part of."
"If Europe doesn't close its borders and bring the criminals out, like the people that are protesting, Europe is finished. Europe has to close its borders, like I've been telling them for 10 years," Trump added. "They have to close their borders and they have to take people that hate their countries out because otherwise they're finished. They will not have a chance of survival." At another point in the gaggle, he said the French protests were "not about school," but "about people coming into the country that hate the country, they hate the buildings, they hate the people, they hate the art."
According to USA Today, Trump also told reporters that "migrants have taken over France," and earlier in the day he had posted on Truth Social: "The migrants have taken over France. They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!" GSM reported on October 18 that Trump had blamed immigration for the unrest in France in a Truth Social post and urged France to close its borders; Monday's remarks were his first on-camera restatement of that position at a departure gaggle, and the first time he used the "Muslim city" formulation.
France's protests began over school conditions and have since widened to the cost of living and inflation. According to the New York Post, about 500,000 people protested across France on Saturday before smaller groups looted as many as 2,000 stores, attacked police and started fires. The Post noted that about 10 percent of France is Muslim, with a slightly higher percentage in Paris. (GSM, via the New York Post and USA Today; original remarks on official White House video)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：特朗普10月19日在白宫外离行记者问答中对记者讲话（本场官方视频画面）。图片来源：白宫官方视频，公共领域。Photo: President Trump speaks to reporters during his departure gaggle outside the White House on Oct. 19, 2026 (frame from the official video). Source: Official White House video, public domain.
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