French dismiss Trump tweets
Mind own business, he’s told
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments on the yellow vest protests in Paris, saying he shouldn’t meddle in France’s affairs.
On Saturday, Trump sought to tie the violent protests across France, triggered by higher fuel taxes, with the Paris climate accord treaty he’s denounced. He said protesters were chanting his name in the streets, a claim Le Drian disputed.
“The protesters didn’t protest in English,” Le Drian said in a radio interview with RTL. “We don’t participate in America’s domestic politics and we would like that to be reciprocal.”
He said French President Emmanuel Macron already told Trump to stay out of French political life.
Sunday was quieter in Paris, with museums and shops reopening and protesters — most wearing yellow safety vests — gone from the streets. About 1,700 people were arrested nationwide in skirmishes late Saturday, and an estimated 179 were hurt in the French capital as extreme-right, extreme-left and anarchist elements defied riot forces, according to the police prefecture.
“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris,” Trump said Saturday on Twitter. “People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment.”
The president ended his tweet asserting that protesters had chanted “We Want Trump!”
Last weekend Trump also cited the protests in France to defend his decision to pull the U.S. out of the December 2015 climate agreement.
The four straight weekends of protests began over fuel taxes but have expanded to pension issues, a higher minimum wage and restoration of a wealth tax. Last week Macron’s government reversed course and suspended a planned fuel-tax increase.
Also Sunday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the country’s yellow vest protests were a serious blow to the nation’s companies and economy and retailers are forecasting substantial losses.
“It’s a catastrophe for business,” Le Maire said, while visiting shops in Paris a day after the latest destructive protests. “It’s a catastrophe for our economy.”
In Paris, many retailers boarded their windows on Saturday in anticipation of protests that focused on the Champs-Elysee and surrounding avenues, as well as busy shopping districts in the Opera district. Iconic department stores like the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps were closed on a December weekend day that would typically be a peak for holiday shopping.
Retailers have lost sales totaling at least $1.14 billion as a result of the protests, according to a spokesman of the French retailers association FCD.
In addition to marches in city centers, protesters blocked the entrance to suburban shopping complexes for four consecutive Saturdays.
Tourist operators also say they’ve taken a hit. As images of destructive clashes in Paris were broadcast worldwide last weekend, tourist reservations to the city fell 40 to 50 percent compared with the previous year, the president of France’s Synhorcat hoteliers’ union Marcel Benezet told newspaper Le Parisien.
During the latest round of protests Saturday, demonstrators in Paris tried to erect barricades, using urban furniture and paving stones, and defied police. At least 920 people were arrested, with as many as 620 in custody.