Latest news with #squabble
Fox News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Emmanuel Macron's wife seen shoving him in the face in viral clip as France's first couple arrives in Vietnam
French first lady Brigitte Macron was seen shoving her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, in the face while the couple was waiting to disembark their plane in Hanoi, Vietnam. Video of the incident showed a uniformed man opening the plane door as Macron was seen wearing a suit and standing in the doorway. Brigitte Macron's arms – in red sleeves – could be seen reaching out and pushing Macron away, with one hand covering his mouth and part of his nose while the other was on his jaw. The French president turned his head away but suddenly noticed news cameras capturing the moment. He quickly smiled and waved before exiting the door frame. Macron and his wife later disembarked the stairs of the aircraft together. The French president offered his arm, though the first lady – seen wearing a red blazer – did not take hold of it. As the clip, recorded by The Associated Press, quickly went viral, Macron said that he and his wife were play-fighting. The headline of a story on the website of the daily Le Parisien newspaper asked, "Slap or 'squabble'? The images of Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron disembarking in Vietnam trigger a lot of comment." Macron told reporters that the couple — who met at a French high school where he was a teenage student, and she was a roughly 39-year-old married teacher — were simply joking around. Emmanuel was 29 when he married Brigitte in 2007. "We are squabbling and, rather, joking with my wife," he said, according to the AP, adding that the incident was being overblown into "a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe." The French leader argued that the images and reaction to them offered a cautionary tale about disinformation in the social media age. "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.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Shocking moment Macron 'is shoved in the face' by wife Brigitte as they touch down in Vietnam
Emmanuel Macron 's office has admitted that his wife Brigitte hit him during a row, after footage showed the First Lady appearing to push his face away as their plane touched down in Vietnam. Shocking video of the incident, shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening, shows the French President's plane door opening to reveal him. His wife Brigitte's arms then emerge from the left of the open doorway as she places both hands on her husband's face and gives it a shove. The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language. The couple then proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband's offered arm. Macron's office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine. A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple's harmless 'squabble'. An Elysee official played down the moment, denying it showed an argument between the couple, who have been married since 2007: '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,' the official said. Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident. 'It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around,' the second source told reporters. 'It's a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists,' the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident. The video clip circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader. Earlier this month, France furiously denied a fake claim that President Macron hid a bag of cocaine while posing for a photograph with Keir Starmer and Germany's Friedrich Merz. The trio met on Friday aboard a train travelling from Poland to Ukraine to visit President Volodymyr Zelensky and to pressure Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire. Pro-Russian keyboard warriors were quick to fuel wild conspiracy theories that a white object on the table was drugs, but the French government quickly clarified that the item in question was in fact a tissue. Macron's visit to Vietnam, the first by a French president in almost a decade, comes as he aims to boost France's influence in its former colony. Vietnam, which has a heavily export-driven economy, has made concessions to the US in trade talks in a bid to avoid 46% tariffs. But Brussels has concerns that Vietnam's efforts to buy more American goods could come at Europe's expense. US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union, but softened his stance two days later, restoring a July 9 deadline for talks between Washington and Brussels. Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China. He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore. Speaking on the first day of the tour today, Macron called for the preservation of a world order 'based on law'. During a press statement alongside his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong in Hanoi, Macron said a rules-based order was necessary at 'a time of both great imbalance and a return to power-driven rhetoric'. Macron signed more than a dozen agreements on defense, nuclear power and trade, including one with the Vietnamese budget airline company VietJet and Airbus to buy 20 A330-900 planes. He paid tribute at a Hanoi war memorial to those who fought the French colonial rulers and met with his counterpart Luong Cuong, as well as Communist Party general secretary To Lam. Macron also visited the 11th century Temple of Literature in the heart of the Vietnamese capital. France and Vietnam's 'sovereignty partnership' could be the central axis of France's approach in the Indo-Pacific, Macron said. France has demonstrated its 'desire to defend international maritime law' when it deployed the French carrier strike group in the South China Sea in early 2025, Macron said. China and Vietnam have long had a maritime agreement governing the Gulf of Tonkin, but have been locked in competing claims in the South China Sea over the Spratly and Paracel Islands and maritime areas. Macron said France would also support Vietnam in key sectors, including critical minerals, high-speed rail, civil nuclear energy and aerospace, and focus on partnering with the Asian nation to help it transition away from dirty coal power while adding new capacity in renewable energy and civil nuclear power. This is Macron's first trip to Vietnam since he took office in 2017.
Sky News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Video shows Emmanuel Macron being pushed in face by wife
A video showing Emmanuel Macron being pushed in the face by his wife has been played down by the French president's office. Brigitte Macron placed her hands on her husband's face as they prepared to exit their plane after touching down in Vietnam at the start of a South East Asia tour. President Macron is seen taking a step back before he recovers and waves to the cameras at the bottom of the aircraft stairs. The pair then walk down the steps together. The Elysee initially denied the authenticity of images of the interaction before eventually verifying they were real, French media reported. The clip has sparked suggestions of an argument between the pair but an Elysee official played down the moment. A source close to the president told the Le Figaro newspaper the pair had "squabbled" but it was a "moment of closeness". The Elysee official denied the video showed a row between the couple, who have been married since 2007. "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," the official said.
CBS News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Brigitte Macron appears to push away husband and French President Emmanuel Macron's face upon arrival in Hanoi
Hanoi, Vietnam — French President Emmanuel Macron's office on Monday downplayed an incident in which his wife appeared to push his face away as he arrived in Vietnam to begin a Southeast Asian tour. Video shot by The Associated Press in Hanoi on Sunday evening shows Macron's plane door opening, revealing him. His wife Brigitte's arms then emerge from the left of the open doorway, she places both hands on her husband's face and gives it a shove. The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language. A screengrab from AP video shows French President Emmanuel Macron inside his airplane right after arriving at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, May 25, 2025, with his wife Brigitte Macron's hands on his face. AP Television News They proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband's offered arm. The video clip circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader. Macron's office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine. A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple's harmless "squabble." France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron disembark from their plane upon arriving at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, May 25, 2025. LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident. "It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around," the second source told reporters, including AFP's. "It's a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists," the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident. Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron, where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China amid economic uncertainty fueled by the two global giants' ongoing trade tariff war. He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore.
Sky News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Emmanuel Macron pushed in face by wife - as his office plays down video of 'squabble'
A video showing Emmanuel Macron being pushed in the face by his wife has been played down by the French president's office. Brigitte Macron placed her hands on her husband's face as they prepared to exit their plane after touching down in Vietnam at the start of a South East Asia tour. President Macron is seen taking a step back before he recovers and waves to the cameras at the bottom of the aircraft stairs. The pair then walk down the steps together. The Elysee initially denied the authenticity of images of the interaction before eventually verifying they were real, French media reported. The clip has sparked suggestions of an argument between the pair but an Elysee official played down the moment. A source close to the president told the Le Figaro newspaper the pair had "squabbled" but it was a "moment of closeness". The Elysee official denied the video showed a row between the couple, who have been married since 2007. "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," the official said.
