France has banned access to government ministers for US Ambassador Charles Kushner, after he failed to show up for a meeting to discuss comments made by the Trump administration about the killing of a far-right activist Quentin Deranque.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot had summoned Kushner, the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, after the US embassy in Paris reposted comments by the Trump administration in Washington about Deranque.
Deranque, 23, died from head injuries following clashes between radical-left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a 12 February protest a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon.
“In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission and the honour of representing one’s country, the minister (Barrot) has requested that he (Kushner) no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,” the foreign ministry said.
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Kushner would, however, be permitted to continue his diplomatic duties and have “exchanges” with officials, it added in a statement.
“It remains, of course, possible for Ambassador Charles Kushner to carry out his duties and present himself at the Quai d’Orsay, so that we may hold the diplomatic discussions needed to smooth over the irritants that can inevitably arise in a friendship spanning 250 years,” it said.
Kushner had been summoned to explain a statement by the US State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, which posted on X that “reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all.”
Deranque’s killing highlighted a climate of deep political tension in France ahead of next year’s presidential vote.
“We reject any instrumentalization of this tragedy, which has plunged a French family into mourning, for political ends,” Barrot said over the weekend. “We have no lessons to learn, particularly on the issue of violence, from the international reactionary movement.”
The State Department said in its post that “violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”
Kushner had already failed to show up for a meeting he was summoned for in August over his letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism. France’s foreign officials met with a representative of the US ambassador instead.
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