Paris – U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner has been barred from direct access to French government ministers after failing to appear at a summons from French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, escalating a diplomatic dispute sparked by comments regarding the death of a French far-right activist.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Quai d’Orsay, announced the decision Monday, stating that Kushner “did not appear” for the scheduled meeting. “Faced with this apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of an ambassador’s mission, the Minister has requested that he no longer have direct access to members of the French government,” the ministry said in a statement. Kushner will, however, still be permitted to carry out his diplomatic duties and engage in “diplomatic exchanges” with French officials.
The summons stemmed from Kushner’s remarks concerning the death of Quentin Deranque, 23, who died February 12th after suffering severe head injuries in a brawl in Lyon. The Trump administration had characterized Deranque’s death as a result of left-wing violence. On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in France shared a post from the U.S. State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau on X, stating that reports of Deranque being “killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all.” The post further asserted that “Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.”
French Foreign Minister Barrot publicly criticized Kushner’s comments as “interference” prior to issuing the summons. “We are summoning the US ambassador to France because the embassy issued a commentary on this event which concerns the national community. We reject any interference in this event,” Barrot stated in an interview with France Inter radio on Sunday.
The fatal brawl, captured on video, showed several masked individuals attacking a man on the ground, sparking widespread shock and anger throughout France. Authorities have charged two individuals with murder in connection with Deranque’s death, with a total of eleven arrests made to date.
The incident has also triggered a diplomatic disagreement between France and Italy, after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attributed Deranque’s death to “groups linked to left-wing extremism” and condemned “a climate of ideological hatred sweeping several nations.”
This is not the first instance of Kushner failing to appear after being summoned by French authorities. In August 2025, the Foreign Ministry summoned Kushner following his accusation that the French government exhibited a “lack of sufficient action” in addressing antisemitism. According to a French diplomatic source, the U.S. Chargé d’affaires was summoned to the ministry in Paris in Kushner’s absence, as the ambassador was not in the city at the time.
CNN has reached out to the U.S. Embassy in France and the U.S. State Department for comment.
