In an apparent swipe at US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday strongly criticised “stupid comments” from foreign leaders for exploiting recent domestic unrest in France to further their own political campaigns.

Speaking in Doha during a three-day state trip to Qatar and the broader Gulf region, aimed at securing France’s energy supplies amid an ongoing national cost-of-living crisis, Macron condemned foreign figures who he said were campaigning “at France’s expense” following nationwide riots over the weekend, according to Euronews. Taking aim at international counterparts without naming them directly, Macron noted that leaders on both sides of the Atlantic were in active campaign mode. “There are people who campaign at France’s expense — leaders who are in campaign mode, whether here in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic,” he commented.

Trump, currently campaigning ahead of the upcoming US midterm elections, has framed the French protests to highlight perceived threats surrounding immigration and Western decline. On Monday, Trump asserted that France was “under siege, looted and set ablaze by migrants, jihadists and communists”, warning American voters that similar consequences await if Democrats prevail.