Trump Jokes About Joining French 'Revolution' at Georgia Rally, Vance Blames Immigration for Riots

Since a Sept. 21 walkout at Saint-Exupéry high school in a Paris suburb, France's student protests have spread into a national movement. Teachers, firefighters, hospital workers and unions have joined in. The new development this weekend is American: the White House's top two figures are using the French unrest as midterm material.

Trump's joke in Dalton

At an Oct. 16 rally in Dalton, Georgia, Trump pitched a $5,000 payment to adult Americans. He said it would be conditional on Republicans winning both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.

Then he riffed on where the money could go. "Darling, the president just sent us $5,000. Let's go to France. It's a lovely place. No riots. No revolutions. You know, France seems to be so damn good for revolutions. It's unbelievable. Let's go to France and join the revolution and spend our $5,000 there."

The point of the bit was the caveat. "The only caveat is you have to spend that $5,000 in the United States of America," Trump said, adding that it could not be spent in China, Japan or France.

It was a rally joke, not a policy statement. The payment itself is a proposal tied to a Republican win in the midterms.

Vance blames immigration

Vance went further on X. "Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion," he wrote. "They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility."

He added: "This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country."

Trump took a similar line earlier in the week on Truth Social. "What's happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration," he wrote. "This isn't about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great country."

The people in the streets describe it differently. The movement began with students demanding more teachers and better buildings. Student leader Manès Nadel said the Education Ministry had been "totally overwhelmed by the crisis."

On Saturday, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley spoke to marchers in Paris. Social worker Julie Billat, 52, said, "It's too much inequality." Public-sector workers told Beardsley they are angry over high prices and low wages.

Vance's claim and the protesters' stated grievances are in direct tension. CNN reported that more than 6,000 people have been taken into police custody over the past few weeks, most of them minors with no previous criminal records.

What happened Saturday

France's interior ministry said 550,000 people took part in Saturday's demonstrations against the cost of living; the CGT union put the figure at 800,000. Most marches were peaceful.

They did not stay that way everywhere. Hooded youths broke into town halls in Lille and Marseille. In Marseille, they used metal street barricades as a battering ram and threw a marble bust of Marianne, the symbol of the Republic, to the ground.

Cars, bike stands and trash cans burned in Paris, with black smoke visible not far from the Eiffel Tower. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said whole streets "have been devastated." Looters hit luxury boutiques including Hermès, along with electronics stores and supermarkets in several cities. In Limoges, a town hall more than 140 years old was largely destroyed in a blaze set by masked protesters, according to the region's top official.

Police have also faced criticism. CNN reported an officer filmed holding a girl in a headlock in Alençon, a technique now prohibited by law. One student in Lens lost his hand after reportedly picking up a grenade, and another in Tours lost the use of an eye.

A wider European pattern

The unrest is not confined to France. Police in Albania fired rubber bullets at young protesters on Saturday over rising living costs and a luxury development linked to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. Demonstrations over living costs have also been reported in Belgium, Italy and Portugal.

For Macron the timing is poor. Elections to replace him are roughly six months away, and the streets are the backdrop.

What comes next

Trump's $5,000 offer, by his own terms, depends on Republicans winning both chambers of Congress in the November midterms. In France, Macron has said those responsible for the violence, vandalism and looting will be prosecuted and punished, and the question of whether the weekend's violence pushes unions and students toward the government or away from it is unanswered.