French first lady Brigitte Macron was observed pushing her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, in the face while they waited to exit their plane in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Footage of the scene showed a man in uniform opening the plane door with Macron, dressed in a suit, at the entrance. Brigitte Macron, with her arms in red sleeves, reached out and pushed Macron, covering his mouth and part of his nose with one hand, while the other touched his jaw. The French president turned away but soon noticed news cameras capturing the exchange. He promptly smiled and waved before stepping out of the doorway.
Macron and Brigitte later descended the plane’s stairs side by side. The French president extended his arm, but the first lady, adorned in a red blazer, did not take it.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron disembark from the plane upon their arrival at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, on May 25, 2025. (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Everyone needs to calm down,” he said.
Macron’s office also downplayed the interaction.
“It was a moment where the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by horsing around. It’s a moment of complicity. It was all that was needed to give ammunition to the conspiracy theorists,” his office said, according to the AP.
Macron’s office also reportedly told CNN that the clip showed a “moment of togetherness,” and that the French president and his wife were unwinding after a long trip and playfully teasing each other.
Macron is touring Southeast Asia this weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
