Overview
- France formally naturalized George and Amal Clooney and their two children by decree published in mid‑December, reflecting the family’s established residence in Provence.
- The Foreign Ministry said the case met legal criteria after security checks and prefecture interviews, citing provisions that recognize distinguished contributions to France’s influence.
- Deputy interior minister Marie‑Pierre Vedrenne questioned the optics as a possible double standard, while Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez rejected any preferential treatment.
- A reform taking effect January 1 tightens the Contrat de Intégration Républicaine, requiring an 80% pass on a civic‑knowledge exam and higher certified French proficiency for non‑EU applicants.
- President Donald Trump ridiculed the Clooneys’ French citizenship on Truth Social and linked it to crime and immigration policy in France, and George Clooney replied via a statement saying, “We have to make the United States great again. We’ll start in November.”