French authorities banned US Ambassador Charles Kushner — the father of Jared Kushner and father-in-law of Ivanka Trump — from meeting with government officials as tensions rise between Paris and Washington.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot claimed Tuesday Kushner failed to show up for a meeting to explain comments made by the Trump administration to which President Emmanuel Macron’s government objected.
“It will, naturally, affect his capacity to exercise his mission in our country,” Barrot told broadcaster France Info.
US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner was banned from meeting with French government officials. AFP via Getty Images“When these explanations have taken place, then the US ambassador in France will naturally regain access to members of the French government,” he added.
Kushner was summoned to explain a critique by the State Department of the rise of “violent radical leftism” after far-right activist Quentin Deranque, 23, died from head injuries Feb. 14, two days after a clash with far-left gang members in Lyon earlier this month.
Deranque’s death was caught on video that showed him being repeatedly kicked and punched. Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin likened Deranque’s murder to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in America.
Charles Kushner is Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law and husband Jared’s father. POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesTwo people have been charged with murder and 11 have been arrested in all in connection with Deranque’s death.
In response to the killing, the State Department’s bureau of counter-terrorism posted on X last week: “Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.”
The US Embassy in Paris posted the same statement in French, raising the hackles of the Macron government.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with Jared Kushner and his father, Charles Kushner, in Paris on Jan. 6, 2026. APMacron’s government has expressed concern about Washington’s interference in what it sees as French internal affairs.
“France cannot accept any form of interference or manipulation of its national public debate by the authorities of a third country,” an official told Agence Frace-Presse.
The political temperature in France has risen in the aftermath of Deranque’s murder and ahead of local elections next month, leaving Macron to try and calm the situation as he prepares to leave office next year.
“There is no space in France for movements that adopt or legitimize violence,” the French president said earlier this week.
President Trump nominated Kushner as his ambassador to Paris shortly after winning a second term in November 2024. At the end of his first term, he pardoned Kushner for federal crimes tied to tax evasion and witness tampering.
Kushner, 71, is a longtime real estate and business tycoon with no previous diplomatic experience.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are due to attend Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, a source close to the couple told The Post.
“Ambassador Kushner and Foreign Minister Barrot, who have met regularly during the Ambassador’s tenure, spoke today in a frank and amicable call,” the Paris embassy said in a statement Tuesday, “reaffirming their shared commitment to working together, along with all other Ministers and French officials, on the many issues that impact the United States and France, particularly as the two countries celebrate 250 years of rich diplomatic relations.”
It was not immediately clear whether Kushner was allowed to contact French officials following the call.
