France's new government meets for the first time to discuss budget and migrant issues

PARIS (AP) — France’s new government dominated by conservatives and centrists gathered for the first time Monday as Prime Minister Michel Barnier set budget and migrant issues as top priorities.

Barnier convened a meeting early morning with newly appointed ministers ahead of a brief Cabinet session in the afternoon with centrist President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace.

The long-awaited list of government members was unveiled Saturday, more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with growing financial and diplomatic challenges.

Macron told government members Monday a “new era” was starting as the political situation is unprecedented in the country and called on them to “stay on the path to compromise,” according to participants in the Cabinet meeting.

Speaking on television on Sunday evening, Barnier acknowledged a key challenge for his government will be the 2025 budget bill to be debated at parliament starting next month.

Barnier called on France 2 television for a “national effort required to redress the situation" after France was placed earlier this year by the European Union's executive arm under a formal procedure for running up excessive debt.

“I’m not going to further increase the tax burden on all French people,” Barnier promised, yet suggesting that “the wealthiest contribute to this national effort.”

In June, the EU Commission recommended to seven nations, including France, that they start a so-called “excessive deficit procedure,” the first step in a long process before any member state can be hemmed in and moved to take corrective action.

Barnier also vowed to “control and limit immigration" in Sunday's interview. He said the number of migrants coming to France “has become unbearable.”

He referred to measures taken by neighboring countries like Germany, which this month ordered temporary controls at all land borders.

Barnier was appointed at the beginning of the month. His first major political test will come on Oct. 1, when he is set to deliver his general policy speech to the National Assembly, France’s powerful lower house of parliament.

A left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, secured the most seats in the June-July parliamentary elections but failed to win a majority.

The New Popular Front was not given a chance to form a minority government, and refused to make concessions and join a more left-leaning government alliance.

Barnier argued that the deal made by his conservative allies and Macron's centrists would allow them to have a bigger support at the National Assembly.

Barnier, a 73-year-old political veteran known for his role as the EU’s Brexit negotiator, is no stranger to complex political tasks.

“We’ll make compromises,” he said. “That’s how I managed to unite the European Union’s 27 countries during the Brexit negotiations."

Barnier also insisted there will be “no controversy” between him and Macron despite both coming from a different political background, because "that’s the interest of the country.”

Macron is to head Tuesday to New York for the U.N. General Assembly, before a two-day visit to Canada.

In France, the president holds a dominant role in strategic matters of defense and foreign policy while the prime minister leads the government and usually focuses more on domestic issues.

Left-wing voters and other critics have denounced the appointment of a government they say rejects people's will.

Incoming ministers include staunch conservative Bruno Retailleau, in charge of the interior portfolio. Retailleau, known for his hardline views on immigration, vowed Monday to “restore order" in “the streets” and “at the borders.”

Jean-Noël Barrot, a centrist politician known for his work in digital transformation and European affairs, is the new foreign minister.

New French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, gestures as he delivers a speech during the handover ceremony at the ministry, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

New French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, gestures as he delivers a speech during the handover ceremony at the ministry, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

New French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, right, attends the handover ceremony at the ministry, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

New French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gets out of a car as he arrives for the handover ceremony, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (Thomas Samson, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Prime Minister Michel Barnier, right, meet with members of the new government during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)

New Justice Minister Didier Migaud, arrives to the first weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

New Finance Minister Antoine Armand, waves to journalist as he arrives to the first weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, is flanked by new Justice Minister Didier Migaud, left, and new Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau during the first weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier boards a car after the first weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier boards a car after the first weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

FILE - French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, background center, French President Emmanuel Macron, foreground left, and Macron's wife, Brigitte Macron, foreground right, applaud during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)