In early May 2025, a video (archived) of the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. traveling together in a train to Ukraine spread online with a familiar claim. According to numerous captions accompanying the video, French President Emmanuel Macron quickly hid a bag of cocaine as journalists entered the cabin to take photographs. He was seated alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The video was shared on X by numerous right-wing figures including Alex Jones and Dinesh D'Souza, as well as pro-Russian accounts. Some of these posts also claimed Merz hid a "spoon" used to ingest the cocaine.
An X post by D'Souza stated:
(X user @DineshDSouza)
Three men and a bag of white powder.
Notice how Macron sneakily and deftly swipes it out of the camera's view.
The German chancellor Merz takes care of the spoon.
Can't have people thinking they are plotting strategy while doing cocaine together
While the video footage is real, the claim is not. We looked closely at the footage and Getty Images photographs of the gathering and found the item was simply a crumpled tissue. As such, we rate the video referred to in this claim as miscaptioned.
According to authentic video footage from AFP, the three leaders were recorded shaking hands aboard a train to Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 9. In the minute before they sit down, they are fully aware of being filmed and no one attempts to hide the white object on the table. It is only when Macron and the others sit down to pose for photographs that he removes the white object from the table. Merz also picks up a small item from the table and appears to fiddle with it.
These Getty Images photographs of the items on the table were taken by Ludovic Marin and Kay Nietfeld, and showed Macron, Merz and Starmer laughing around the table before they sat down:
(LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP/Getty Images)
(Kay Nietfeld/Getty Images)
We zoomed in on one image and found the large white item is very clearly a crumpled piece of tissue. We were unable to determine precisely what the item Merz picked up actually was, but some X users described it as a cocktail skewer. In any case, it in no way resembled a spoon.
(LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP/Getty Images)
Not long after the video began circulating, some users, Alex Jones among them, began sharing what appeared to be an enlargement of the image and claiming, again, that it showed "a bag of Blow."
(X user @RealAlexJones)
However, the image had been digitally edited to add the sort of textures and highlights one would see if the item actually was a plastic bag full of cocaine. The verified X account of Élysée Palace, Macron's official residence, rejected the claim on May 11, releasing a statement and an unmanipulated photograph of the white object:
When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs.
This fake news is being spread by France's enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation.
The X post also stated: "This is a tissue. For blowing your nose."
This was not the first time public figures and politicians were accused on social media of using cocaine. We have covered incorrect claims about Donald Trump Jr. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy using cocaine. Zelenskyy in particular is a common target of such rumors. During the course of the Russia-Ukraine war, we fact-checked digitally edited footage that falsely showed cocaine on his desk during a video call with Elon Musk.
While the video footage above is real, it is not evidence that the three leaders had cocaine in the room, nor that they attempted to "hide" any materials tied to cocaine.