Donald Trump has threatened that the United States could “leave” as he condemned France’s violent unrest and accused European leaders of allowing migration to undermine Western values, raising fresh questions over the future of NATO.
Speaking in Kansas while campaigning for Republican senator Roger Marshall, the US president invoked the disorder in France as a warning to American voters ahead of the US midterm elections. He blamed left-wing politicians and migrants for the violence, portraying the unrest as evidence of a wider crisis across Europe.
“If you want to see what is at stake in this election, just look at what’s happening in France,” Trump said.
He described France as a country being “conquered, looted and burned to the ground”, blaming migrants, jihadists and communists whom he accused of hostility towards Christianity and Western civilisation. He also claimed that millions of migrants had been brought into Europe who were “totally incompatible” with Western values.
More than 500,000 demonstrators reportedly took to the streets on Saturday, with some incidents involving looting and arson. A 143-year-old town hall in Limoges was also set alight in what was described as a deliberate act of vandalism. French authorities imposed a curfew to contain the unrest.
Trump suggested the US could withdraw from its commitments to Europe if the continent failed to address what he described as its mounting problems.
“But if they don’t soon find their way — and they have to find their way — we will have no choice but to leave,” he said. “It’s a very serious situation.”
He did not explicitly name NATO when making the threat, but his subsequent remarks about the alliance left little doubt that its future remained central to his criticism.
Trump accused European allies of failing to support Washington during the war with Iran, contrasting their reluctance to assist with the hundreds of billions of dollars the US spends annually on NATO.
“When we said, would you like to help? ‘No thank you’,” he said, arguing that the response was something the US could “never really forget”.
The remarks revive concerns about the reliability of American security guarantees at a time when Nato’s eastern flank faces heightened anxiety over Russia. Under the alliance’s collective-defence principle, an armed attack on one member can trigger a response from all.
Trump has previously described Nato as a “paper tiger” and said he was “strongly considering” withdrawing from the alliance. His latest comments offer no detailed timetable or formal policy announcement, but deepen uncertainty over Washington’s long-term commitment to European security.
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