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France’s top diplomat Monday requested that U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government after he skipped a meeting to discuss comments by the Trump administration over the beating death of a far-right activist.
French authorities had summoned Kushner, the father of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, to the Quai d’Orsay, which houses the Foreign Affairs Ministry, on Monday evening but he did not show up, according to diplomatic sources.
Jean-Noel Barrot, the foreign affairs minister, moved to restrict Kushner’s access “in light of this apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of the mission of an ambassador, who has the honor of representing his country.”
The ministry, however, left the door open for reconciliation.
“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 following a statement by the 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.” The U.S. Embassy had posted that statement on social media.
Deranque, a far-right activist, died of brain injuries this month from a beating in the French city of Lyon. He was attacked during a fight on the margins of a student meeting where a far-left lawmaker was a keynote speaker.
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His killing highlighted a climate of deep political tension 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 was summoned 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 U.S. ambassador since the diplomat did not show up.
The United States has sanctioned three leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group whose members have committed genocide in Sudan.
The trio of Elfateh Abdullah Idris Adam, Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed, and Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed hold self-titled ranks of Brigadier General and Field Commander.
Elfateh Abdullah Idris Adam, who brazenly filmed his atrocities, including executing civilians in El Fasher, was designated under Section 7031(c) for gross violations of human rights.
The RSF has perpetrated well-documented barbarity in Sudan since April 2023, after a power struggle within the government that seized power following the 2021 coup.
The U.S. said the RSF and allied militias engaged in killings, torture, and sexual violence in El Fasher during the months-long siege and capture in October 2025, targeting civilians based on their ethnicity and tribe.
The RSF also prevented food and other humanitarian assistance from entering the city, leading to famine and disease, a State Department readout notes.
America said it seeks a lasting peace in Sudan and an end to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, urging “the belligerents” to accept the U.S.-brokered humanitarian truce without preconditions.
Last November, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was aware that multiple players were involved in the Sudanese crisis, and vowed that the Trump Administration would go after them.
The RSF attacks in late October 2025 left more than 400 dead, according to the World Health Organization. The victims included patients and companions at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher.
The United Kingdom announced measures against four RSF leaders in December 2025. The European Union took a similar action in January 2026, sanctioning both RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) actors.
Eight migrants from Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia arrived in Cameroon on Wednesday after being expelled from the United States.
Cameroon is the latest of several African countries to receive foreigners expelled under US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, after Ghana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan.
Five men and three women arrived in Cameroon and were being held by the authorities in the capital Yaounde, said Alma David, a US immigration lawyer, and Joseph Fru Awah, a Cameroonian lawyer familiar with the case.
A United Nations source in Cameroon who asked not to be named confirmed the information to AFP.
No agreement governing such transfers between Cameroon and the United States has been made public by either country.
Another flight from Louisiana, with nine Africans expelled from the United States on board, arrived in Yaounde on January 14, the New York Times reported.
