Macron’s ‘Top Gun’ shades charm internet as leaders wrangle over Greenland

French President Emmanuel Macron is seen during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

DAVOS, Switzerland -- French President Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses have caught the eye, with social media users debating his choice of a “Top Gun” look as he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump over Greenland during his speech in Davos.

As he spoke at the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos on Tuesday, the French president wore dark, reflective sunglasses.

Memes, comments and speculation over his appearance surged on social media, with some supporters praising him for his “Top Gun” look while opponents dismissed it as bombastic or speculated about his health.

Macron’s office said the choice to wear sunglasses during his speech, which took place indoors, was to protect his eyes because of a burst blood vessel.

One meme, with the headline “Duel in Davos,” was styled like a Top Gun parody, with Macron and Trump eyeballing each other, both wearing military-style flight suits, and Macron, looking very small next to Trump, sporting oversized aviator sunglasses.

References to the 1986 movie starring Tom Cruise were ubiquitous.

“Trump: be careful ... Macron is here,” one social media user said on X, with a picture of the French president with the aviator glasses. “Could he not find some more sober glasses?” another user asked.

Even Trump weighed in, mocking Macron for his glasses in his own Davos speech on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, some of Macron’s colleagues had gotten in on the act, with European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad posting a version of the “Soyboy vs Yes Chad” meme with Chad donning aviators and draped in a French flag.

Italian group iVision Tech, which owns Henry Jullien, said the model worn by Macron was its Pacific S 01, with a price tag of 659 euros (US$770) on its website. It said it sent Macron the sunglasses as a gift but that he had insisted on paying for them, and made sure they were made in France.

The Milan-listed stock was up almost 6 per cent on Wednesday.

“The news this morning came as a surprise,” the group’s chief executive Stefano Fulchir said. “We were flooded with calls and requests on the website ... The site crashed.”

Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Sybille de La Hamaide; editing by Ingrid Melander, Toby Chopra and Mark Heinrich, Reuters