Nicolai Haugsted
Trump points to mass migration and Islam as French students protest deteriorating school conditions.
France has spent weeks grappling with a protest movement that began among teenagers demanding something rather less geopolitical than a religious takeover: better schools.
Classrooms packed with students, absent teachers, deteriorating buildings and shortages of staff have fueled demonstrations that started around Paris before spreading across the country. Teachers, parents and university students have since joined parts of the movement, while violent clashes and thousands of arrests have turned an education dispute into a national crisis.
Donald Trump sees a very different story.
The US president weighed in Tuesday with his own explanation for the unrest, arguing that schools were not really the issue at all. Instead, Trump blamed migration and claimed Islam was attempting to “take over” France.
Available reporting on the origins and stated demands of the protests does not support that characterization.
Trump dismisses the school explanation
Trump delivered his assessment on Truth Social as demonstrations continued across France.
“What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration,” Trump wrote, according to the source material.
“This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!”
No evidence was offered in the post to establish that the protests are being driven by Muslims seeking control of France.
Reporting from the demonstrations instead traces the movement to students and teachers demanding greater resources for the country’s education system.
The protests began in Créteil, southeast of Paris, on September 17, when students joined striking teachers calling for additional staff and resources. Videos spread online, and similar demonstrations quickly appeared elsewhere.
Students have a considerably longer complaint list
Protesters have repeatedly identified their grievances.
Overcrowded classrooms, teachers who are not replaced when absent, unsafe or dilapidated buildings, overheated classrooms, long school days and insufficient staffing all feature prominently among their demands. Some students have also criticized inequalities associated with France’s university admissions system.
French teachers have backed many of those complaints.
“The starting point is that the school system is in crisis, and it has been for a long time,” teacher union official Bruno Girard told Euronews.
Parents have also joined the debate.
“We support calls for our children to study in better conditions,” Mustafa Ozcelik, vice-president of French parent association FCPE, told Euronews.
Those accounts provide a markedly different explanation from Trump’s assertion that Islam is attempting to take control of the country.
Peaceful grievances meet serious violence
Legitimate complaints about schools have not prevented some demonstrations from becoming violent.
Bins and other objects have been set on fire, projectiles have been thrown at police, school buildings have been damaged and officers have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and other crowd-control weapons. French authorities reported nearly 5,000 arrests by Sunday, while hundreds of schools have faced closures or disruptions.
A particularly serious incident occurred in Lens, where a 15-year-old student lost a hand after apparently picking up a police sting-ball grenade and attempting to throw it back before it exploded.
French officials have condemned violence surrounding the protests while acknowledging the underlying educational grievances.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray met student representatives last week, but student groups said afterward that they had received no “concrete measures” and vowed to continue demonstrating.
Trump has targeted Muslim immigration before
Tuesday’s intervention fits into a much longer political record for Trump.
During his first presidential campaign, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States. After becoming president in 2017, he imposed restrictions on travelers from several Muslim-majority countries through an executive order that was subsequently revised and challenged through the courts.
Trump returned to the issue during his second presidency.
His administration announced new travel restrictions in June 2025 affecting citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Migration has simultaneously become a recurring part of Trump’s criticism of European governments, with the president arguing that immigration threatens European culture and security.
