Does a video clearly show French President Macron hiding a bag of white powder cocaine as reporters enter a train car where he is meeting with German Chancellor Merz and UK Prime Minister Starmer? No, that's not true: The low-resolution video used to make the claim that the white material in front of Macron is cocaine is too blurry to show detail, while higher-resolution photos available on AFP's image website suggest it is a crumpled napkin on the table. The claim that Merz was caught hiding a spoon is unsupported by the video.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @RealAlexJones on May 11, 2025. The 40-second video was captioned:
DEVELOPING SCANDAL: Macron, Starmer, and Merz caught on video on their return from Kiev. A bag of white powder on the table. Macron quickly pockets it, Merz hides the spoon. No explanation given. Zelensky, known cocaine enthusiast, had just hosted them. All three of the "leaders" look completely cracked out.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
This is a higher-resolution version of the video, which was shot by an AFP photographer on board a train to Kyiv, in Shegyni, Ukraine, on May 9, 2025.
This screenshot captures a moment after Starmer entered the car and was about to shake Merz's hand as Macron stood in the middle:
(Source: Lead Stories' screenshot of AFP video.)
This is a zoomed in screenshot of the same video frame, showing only the white material:
This is a zoomed in screenshot of the same video frame in the @RealAlexJones version, showing only the white material:
While both screenshots are blurry, there is more detail in the AFP video version. This is still not enough to distinguish if this is a bag of cocaine or a crumpled napkin.
Fortunately, the AFP also had a still photographer inside the train car capturing the same moments. This is a screenshot taken at about the same second zoomed in on the same section of the table:
The added detail does not suggest it is a bag of white powder. Anyone who wants to put their money where their conspiracy theory is can get an even higher-resolution version for just $499 at the Getty Images website:
