Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting of ministers on Sunday after anti-government riots left Paris and other French cities in a state of shock and the French president facing his most severe political crisis.
Returning from the G20 summit in Argentina, Mr Macron rushed to the Arc de Triomphe to assess the material damage done by the so-called “yellow jacket” demonstrators when they clashed with police in the heart of Paris the day before.
Measures under consideration by the government include the imposition of a state of emergency and the deployment of soldiers to help contain the protests, Christophe Castaner, interior minister, said.