Hollande uses Paris farm show visit to rebuke Trump

French President Francois Hollande fired back at Donald Trump on Saturday after the U.S. president remarked in a speech that a friend thought "Paris is no longer Paris" after attacks by Islamist militants.

French President Francois Hollande poses next to a cow as he visits the International Agricultural Show in Paris, France, February 25, 2017. REUTERS/Michel Euler

Hollande said Trump should show support for U.S. allies.

"There is terrorism and we must fight it together. I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country. I wouldn't do it with the United States and I'm urging the U.S. president not to do it with France," Hollande said.

"I won't make comparisons but here, people don't have access to guns. Here, you don't have people with guns opening fire on the crowd simply for the satisfaction of causing drama and tragedy," Hollande said, responding to questions during a visit at the Paris Agric fair.

During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Trump repeated his criticism of Europe's handling of attacks by Islamist militants saying a friend "Jim" no longer wanted to take his family to Paris.

More than 230 people have died in a series of assaults in France since the beginning of 2015, and the country has been under a state of emergency rules since November the same year.

Paris mayor responds

Trump's comments also drew a rebuke from the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.

She tweeted a photo of herself alongside Mickey and Minnie Mouse, saying: "To Donald and his friend Jim, from @LaTourEiffel we celebrate the charms of #Paris with Mickey and Minnie."

But fears linked to terror attacks have scared off some visitors to Paris over the past two years. In November 2015, 130 people were killed in Paris when gunmen and suicide bombers from the Islamic State jihadist group attacked bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium.

That attack came 10 months after two jihadist gunmen shot dead cartoonists and journalists at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.