TRUMP, ALGERIA, AND US…

TRUMP, ALGERIA, AND US…

François Fillon, briefly emerging from his silence, found the right words to describe Donald Trump's election and the reactions it triggered in France:

"Donald Trump," he said, "won because Americans could no longer tolerate uncontrolled immigration, woke excesses, and the risk of being dragged into multiple wars."

His victory, he argued, was "a popular triumph over out-of-touch elites who believe they hold the truth but keep failing." However, while the issues are similar on both sides of the Atlantic, Fillon observed that "the inauguration of the new U.S. president sparks disproportionate reactions in France, reflecting our weakness and decline."

Where Washington moves swiftly, decisively—sometimes even ruthlessly—France, by contrast, remains paralyzed and powerless on fundamental national concerns, starting with immigration. Hence the stark divide between those who demonize Trump outright and those who marvel at him.

Without falling into either camp, I can’t help but think that a dose of Trumpism wouldn’t be unwelcome in resolving our endless contortions over Algeria, Algerian immigration to France, and the repeated humiliations inflicted on us by Algeria’s military-Islamist regime—met with nothing from our side but submission.

Trump, by contrast, acted within hours of taking office: total border closure, suspension of asylum applications, elimination of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, mass deportation programs, a state of emergency at the southern border, and deployment of the military.

France is nowhere near such decisive action. Much to the frustration of a vast majority of French citizens who have had enough of mass immigration and its consequences—not to mention the Algerian government’s arrogance—our leaders continue to favor appeasement.

The tone was set before Macron’s first election in 2017 when he declared in Algiers that France was guilty of "crimes against humanity." Yet, as Chinese strategist Sun Tzu teaches, one should never fight on the enemy’s chosen ground. And yet, Macron’s France keeps stirring Algeria’s toxic memory politics—a decades-old political lifeline for Algiers. Endless apologies from Paris are met with relentless bad faith from Algiers, elevated to an art form.

"You colonized us for 132 years; you owe us 132 years of visas," Algerian President Tebboune nonchalantly claims.

Thus, touching the 1968 agreement—which grants Algerians uniquely privileged access and residency rights in France—is off-limits. Likewise, revisiting the 842 million euros in development aid sent to Algeria between 2017 and 2022 is unthinkable. As is demanding payment for the tens of millions of euros owed to French hospitals or regulating illegal immigration from Algeria. Meanwhile, according to INSEE, France is home to some 878,000 Algerian immigrants and 1.2 million French-born descendants of at least one Algerian parent.

Some of these Algerians openly identify as “mujahideen” of the regime, inciting violence in France. Algeria refuses to take them back, even as it imprisons Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal—elderly, ill, and guilty only of criticizing the kleptocratic regime. A state hostage, Iranian-style.

"France has been humiliated," Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau rightly observed—before adding that "we must move on."

Yet, a dose of Trumpism is precisely what’s needed, with immediate measures such as: suspending all visas and residence permits for renewable three-month periods, halting financial transfers to Algeria, closing consulates (Algeria has 20 in France, while France has only three in Algeria), all while waiting for Algiers to cease its insults against France, control illegal immigration, and take back its deported nationals.

Because power commands respect—just as weakness invites humiliation. From this perspective, Trump’s election holds valuable lessons for our old nation, which deserves better than submission.

Pierre Lellouche

VA, January 23, 2025