Macron criticizes Trump and other leaders over migrant claims about unrest in France

Macron described the claims as “stupid,” according to reporting by the Financial Times, The Hindu and The New Indian Express. The reports said the leaders had blamed migrants for violence and looting during unrest in France, while the accounts did not provide Trump’s exact remarks.

The Hindu reported that Macron said there had been “foreign manipulation of information in the aftermath” of looting in Paris and other French cities. The publication’s account identifies those locations as sites of the reported unrest; it does not establish that Macron made his statement in Paris.

The dispute also drew attention to how the unrest was being presented internationally. The Times of India characterized Macron’s criticism as an accusation that Trump was using the French unrest in connection with a US midterm campaign. The supplied reporting does not independently establish Trump’s intent or the exact statements behind that characterization.

Clarín reported that Macron criticized leaders who circulated images generated with artificial intelligence about the protests and challenged claims that France had been invaded by “hordes of Islamist immigrants.” The supplied material does not establish who created or circulated the alleged images. It also provides no verified figures for the unrest’s scale, casualties or damage, and does not independently establish its causes.