French authorities have announced that Ambassador Charles Kushner has been barred from meeting with government officials in France.
Kushner was already a controversial appointment for Trump on two different fronts.
He is Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law, as well as a recipient of a Trump pardon for a guilty plea entered related to a 2005 charge of tax evasion, witness tampering, and illegal campaign contributions.
When Trump announced the appointment, he gushed over his daughter’s father-in-law.
Trump posted to Truth Social that Kushner is "a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our Country & its interests.”
Just one Democrat voted in favor of the appointment, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). While it was not vocalized, I believe the mass lack of support for his nomination was likely because Kushner was one of the many controversial pardons issued by Trump.
Kushner had pleaded guilty to tax evasion, witness tampering, and making illegal campaign donations, but Trump pardoned him in 2020.
On February 14, 2026, it was announced that Quentin Deranque, a nationalist student, was allegedly killed by far-left militants in an attack that took place on February 12.
Deranque was present at a protest being held by far-right feminists, reportedly there for their protection. Footage of the alleged assault shows him being thrown to the ground, then punched and kicked by hooded individuals, and he later died from his injuries.
Since his death, there have been numerous protests by the right, as well as significant condemnation of the far-left group La France Insoumise (France Unbowed).
Commentator Guillaume Tabard observed, “Since Quentin Deranque's death, the political landscape has shifted. Mélenchon's party has become the formation that is the most condemned in politics and the media. For [the RN] it is a godsend, after half a century in which the distinction belonged to it."
The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs had called Ambassador Kushner in to discuss the matter, but he never showed up, a significant breach of diplomatic protocol.
For this violation, he has now been barred from meeting with government officials. One French official stated, “It’s not primarily a bilateral issue, it’s a question of the basic expectations attached to the mission of an ambassador.”
The official continued, “We just wanted to underline that he will not be granted direct access to ministers and members of the government, but he can carry out his duties [and present himself at the French ministry of foreign affairs].”
As of this writing, the White House has not commented on the ban from the French. The timing could not be worse for Trump, who had his State of the Union Address scheduled for Tuesday night, and I would have to think Democrats will use this breach of protocol in their response to Trump’s speech and the first year of his administration.
