Donald Trump doesn’t like to be challenged on the issues he cares about. And France had to pay the price this Monday evening through an uncompromising exchange on the conservative TV channel Fox News. In this lengthy interview, journalist Laura Ingraham wants to discuss the issue of foreign students being allowed to come and study in the United States. And the topic of conversation quickly turned to a rather fierce and unexpected criticism of France.
Ingraham: “They’re not French. They’re Chinese. They spy on us. They steal our intellectual property…”
President Trump: “What do you think is better than France?”
Ingraham: “Yeah.”
Trump: “I’m not so sure. We have a lot of problems with France.” pic.twitter.com/PqzCsm0UV1
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 11, 2025
Donald Trump probably didn’t expect to encounter a contradiction like this on Fox News, a channel he’s close to and apparently watches non-stop. However, regarding foreign students this time, journalist Laura Ingraham doesn’t want to just let it go.
“Many MAGA supporters are not happy with the hundreds of thousands of foreign students here in the United States,” the interviewer attacked directly. You said 600,000 foreign students could come and study in America? How can this be considered a pro-MAGA stance? »
Two opposing currents in the Make America Great Again movement, a slogan that has become a political force: those, often close to the technology sector, who believe that America needs foreign brains; and those, more ideological in nature after former adviser Steve Bannon, who defended strict restrictions on immigration. The subject ripped America’s right wing apart.
Donald Trump initially responded not at the level of ideas, but at the level of business. “If we halved the number of foreign students, which would certainly satisfy some people, half of America’s universities would go bankrupt,” the President argued.
“So what?” So our system is dependent on China? “, replied Laura Ingraham.
“The French are no better…”
“It’s great to have people from other countries,” Donald Trump timidly declared, while immigration police are currently leading a merciless hunt for illegal aliens.
That’s when the conversation took an unexpected turn, the journalist didn’t let the matter go. “But they’re not French, they’re Chinese. They spy on us, they steal our intellectual property…”, argued Laura Ingraham.
Cornered, Donald Trump then allowed himself to express his opinion about France: “And you think France is better? I’m not sure. We have a lot of problems with France. Our technology is taxed very unfairly. They put a 25% tax on American products.”
The tirade, brief but harsh, appeared to be primarily aimed at France’s behavior towards Gafam, large companies accused of making huge profits on national territory without continuing to pay sufficient taxes. Donald Trump, a supporter of deregulation that could benefit his country’s business world, doesn’t always seem to understand this.
He ended this conversation with a Fox News journalist, who confronted him with the different demands of the MAGA base, by going back to basics: “Listen to me carefully: MAGA was my idea. Nobody else’s idea. I know what the MAGA world wants better than anyone. And the MAGA world wants to see our country prosper.”
