France’s President Emmanuel Macron may have landed in Vietnam, but the turbulence didn’t end on the tarmac.
As cameras rolled to capture the grand arrival of the French first couple, Brigitte Macron’s hand suddenly appeared to push her husband’s face aside.
The clip, shot by an AP video journalist, caught Macron doing what most politicians do best: trying to look calm and photogenic in the face of chaos.
But as he spoke to Brigitte, still inside the aircraft cabin, her arm swung out and shoved his cheek.
A startled Macron blinked, smiled, and waved at the press like he hadn’t just been swatted by the woman he calls ma chérie (my darling).
A flight crew member who nearly stepped into the moment reversed course.
Seconds later, the First Lady descended with the elegance—stoic, stylish, and ignoring the President’s outstretched arm.
Macron, still clutching the stair handle like a man gripping his pride, walked one step ahead with the dazed dignity of someone just gif-ed into internet infamy.
What the Élysée said
The French presidency first pulled a denial, brushing off the viral clip as fake news. That was until the Associated Press video made denial inconvenient. Then aides called it a “harmless couple’s squabble.”
"It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh. It was a moment of closeness," an Elysee official said.
Macron told reporters in Hanoi: “We were just joking, as we often do.”
The internet was not in on the joke.
“Did Brigitte just shove his face?” one X user asked.
Another chimed in: “Actually concerning – where this is done in public, imagine what happens behind closed doors…”
Others weren’t so grim: “I think she was trying to clean something off his nose,” offered one theory.
One user pulled no punches: “Imagine for a moment if Macron pushed her face like this. All violence is unacceptable.”
And then there were those who read between the red carpet lines: “He looked clearly angry and upset as he got off and couldn’t hide his emotions,” one observer wrote.
Some suggested a very French explanation: pre-landing jitters and a lovers’ spat.
Whether it was a private joke gone public, or an unfortunate case of baguette crumbs on the cheek, the internet was unanimous about one thing. It was peak Macron content.
Meanwhile, Macron plays diplomat on tariffs
While the internet dissected every frame of the tarmac tiff, Macron was busy trying to smooth over tensions of a different kind — the transatlantic tariff variety.
Speaking to reporters in Vietnam, the French President revealed that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Donald Trump had a "good exchange" over the weekend regarding trade.
"The discussions are advancing. There has been a good exchange between President Trump and President Von der Leyen and I hope we can continue on this road and return to the lowest possible tariffs that will allow for fruitful exchanges," Macron said.
He also added, diplomatically, that tariffs were "not the right way to solve trade imbalances."