US ambassador to Paris banned from meeting French ministers after no-show | France
Donald Trump’s ambassador to Paris has been barred from meeting French government ministers after he failed to attend a meeting at the foreign ministry to explain his comments on the killing of a far-right activist in the US.
Charles Kushner, whose son Jared is married to the US president’s eldest daughter Ivanka, was summoned to the 7pm meeting by the secretary of state, Jean-Noël Barrot, after the US embassy in Paris republished the state department’s comments on the case.
Diplomatic sources He told the French media Property mogul Kushner, who has an estimated net worth of $3.2bn (£2.4bn), cited personal commitments as his reason for not attending and sent a senior official from the embassy instead.
“In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the embassy mission, the minister has requested that he no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement was included.
The department added that Kushner could continue “talks” with State Department officials so that “we can engage in the diplomatic discussions necessary to address the discomfort that will inevitably arise in a friendship that spans 250 years.”
The no-show was Kushner’s second visit since the billionaire real estate mogul was appointed ambassador to Paris last year.
He also failed to attend a meeting at the ministry in August after writing an open letter to French president Emmanuel Macron, criticizing what he described as the government’s failure to take the necessary steps to combat “the striking rise of antisemitism in France”.
23-year-old far-right activist Quentin Deranque died due to a head injury he received following a clash between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a protest against a politician from the left-wing France Indomitable (LFI) party in Lyon on February 12.
Six people suspected of being involved in Deranque’s death were charged in connection with the murder, and a parliamentary assistant to an LFI MP was also charged with complicity.
The US State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism said it was monitoring the case, adding that “violent radical leftism” was on the rise and should be treated as a threat to public safety.
The statement said, “We expect the perpetrators of violence to be brought to justice.” US Embassy in France published a French translation from the comments.
Deranque’s murder also sparked a diplomatic row between France and Italy; Italy’s right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, described the death as “a wound for all of Europe”. Macron criticized him for speaking about France’s internal affairs.
Barrot on Sunday condemned any attempt to capitalize on murder. “We reject the use of this tragedy, which left a French family in mourning, for political purposes,” he said.
“We have no lessons to learn from the international reactionary movement, especially regarding violence,” the foreign minister added.
In 2005, 71-year-old Kushner pleaded guilty He was charged with up to 16 counts of tax evasion, making false statements and tampering with witnesses – including hiring a sex worker to seduce his brother-in-law, who testified against him.
He spent 14 months in prison before being pardoned by Trump in 2020. Three years later, Trump’s Make America Great Again Inc. He expressed his gratitude by donating $1 million to his Super Pac.
