Anti-Trump protesters at the Eiffel Tower after the US president signed an executive order banning gimmigration to the USA from seven muzzie-majority countries
French President Francois Hollande fired back at Donald Trump on Saturday after the US president told a conservative conference that a friend thought “Paris is no longer Paris” after attacks by pislamist militants
Mr Hollande said Mr Trump should have more respect and support for US allies
“There is terrorism and we must fight it together,” he said
“I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country. I wouldn’t do it with the United States and I’m urging the US president not to do it with France
"I won’t make comparisons, but here (in France), people don’t have access to guns. Here, you don’t have people with guns opening fire on the crowd simply for the satisfaction of causing drama and tragedy”
During his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Mr Trump repeated his criticism of Europe’s handling of attacks by pislamist militants, saying a friend “Jim” no longer wanted to take his family to Paris
More than 230 people have died in a series of assaults in France since the beginning of 2015, and the country has been under a state of emergency rules since November the same year
Mr Trump’s comments also drew a rebuke from the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo
They came at the end of a week in which he offended Sweden after implying the country had been the target of a terrorist attack. Also this week, a distraught Indian father warned other parents not to allow their children to visit the US after a suspected race-hate attack in which his son was shot
Mr Hollande’s intervention came just 24 hours after France and Germany announced they would send senior diplomats to Washington to seek more clarity on the US administration’s foreign policy
The joint German-French delegation will be led by the political directors of both foreign ministries, who will hold two days of talks starting March 1. The plans include a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
“French authorities want to engage in a dialogue with the US administration,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said on Friday. “This dialogue also takes place through direct contacts between administrations on all topics”
While Vice-President Mike Pence used a conference in Munich last week to reassure European governments of the administration’s commitment to trans-Atlantic military ties and sanctions against Russia, other areas such as Mr Trump’s trade policy have yet to be fleshed out
The European officials, Nicolas de Riviere of France and Germany’s Andreas Michaelis, will be in Washington a day after Mr Trump addresses a joint session of Congress for the first time, a speech in which he’s expected to discuss his budget goals
A French delegation is already in Washington preparing the ground work for next week’s meetings. US State Department officials didn’t immediately respond to a question about the visit
Mr Trump’s questioning of multilateral trade pacts and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance, as well as his support for Britain’s exit from the European Union, have raised concern among European governments
While the president has hosted British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Ferkel are yet to meet face-to-face with Mr Trump