Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
France has banned US ambassador Charles Kushner from meeting government officials after he ignored a summons from the foreign ministry over Trump administration comments about the recent killing of a far-right activist.
Kushner, the father of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was called to the Quai d’Orsay after Washington waded into the political turmoil in France since 23-year-old Quentin Deranque was killed in a clash between his group and far-left militants in Lyon.
The US state department warned that “violent radical leftism is on the rise” and represented a threat to “public safety”, promising in a post on X that the US would “monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice”.
The US embassy in Paris reposted the comment in French, prompting the diplomatic spat. It also comes as the Trump administration has openly supported far-right movements across Europe. It shares their view that western civilisation is under threat from uncontrolled immigration and leftist excesses.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on France Info on Tuesday that Kushner’s non-appearance was a “surprise” move that should not occur between countries that have a 250-year-old alliance.
“When you have the honour of representing your country — the United States of America — in France as ambassador, you respect the most basic rules of diplomacy and you respond when summoned by the foreign ministry,” he said.
“The French and France do not accept that foreign countries or authorities wade into our national debates.”
The ban on government officials meeting Kushner “will naturally affect his capacity to exercise his mission in our country”, said Barrot, adding that if the ambassador explained himself, the access would resume.
An official from the US embassy was sent to the foreign ministry to represent Kushner, who said he was unable to attend due to personal engagements.
Trump has repeatedly warned that Europe was being ruined and “invaded by a force of illegal aliens”, while the White House national security strategy recently asserted that Europe’s economic decline could be “eclipsed” by the prospect of “civilisational erasure”, warning the continent could be “unrecognisable in 20 years or less”.
Relations between Trump and President Emmanuel Macron have also veered between bonhomie and insults over everything from tariffs to the war in Ukraine.
Trump administration diplomats have been unabashed about taking on their host countries. The US ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, recently attacked the country for what he called the antisemitic policy of banning some types of circumcision. In Poland, a war of words erupted when the president said Trump did not deserve the Nobel Prize. US ambassador Tom Rose hit back, saying he would not allow anyone to ‘‘disrespect Donald Trump”.
Kushner is not a career diplomat and became wealthy as a real estate developer in New Jersey. He also spent just over a year in federal prison after being convicted of tax evasion. He was released in 2006.
This is the second time that Kushner has declined to show up at the Quai d’Orsay when summoned — behaviour that flouts diplomatic practice, especially between allied countries.
Kushner wrote an open letter to Macron in August, expressing “deep concern” that Paris was not doing enough to fight antisemitism, a sensitive topic in France since it is home to Europe’s biggest Jewish community.
The Trump administration’s comments add to the tensions in France over the killing of Deranque. The far-left activists known as la Jeune Garde, who identify themselves as an anti-fascist self-defence movement and whose members stand accused of beating Deranque to death, have links to the far-left France Unbowed party.
The far left has become engulfed in a political crisis after Deranque’s death, while the far right has seized on the moment to paint itself as the victim and the far left as dangerous radicals.
Prosecutors on Thursday said they were filing preliminary charges against seven men aged 20 to 26 for voluntary homicide.
The US embassy did not return a request for comment.