French President Emmanuel Macron said he saw no visible foreign interference in the protests themselves. He separately accused some foreign leaders of repeating false accounts of the unrest afterward.
Speaking in Qatar on Oct. 21, Macron said the alleged manipulation of information occurred after the protests. Asked whether U.S. President Donald Trump was among the foreign figures he had criticized, Macron said he was.
Macron said some foreign leaders facing elections were seeking political advantage from France’s unrest. Anadolu Agency reported that Trump attributed the disorder to immigration rather than concerns about education.
Students initially mobilized over school funding before unions and other groups joined demonstrations that also raised concerns about living costs and fuel prices, as earlier EconoTimes coverage of the protests detailed. Damage to shops and public buildings accompanied the Oct. 17 demonstrations. Macron acknowledged the economic grievances in an Oct. 18 address and pledged help for affected merchants.
Macron scheduled a security briefing for Oct. 22 ahead of further demonstrations planned for Oct. 24.
