PARIS, June 30 — French President Emmanuel Macron reappeared yesterday wearing now-iconic aviator sunglasses that caused a stir at the Davos forum when he wore them due to an eye condition during a speech standing up to Donald Trump.
Macron was sporting the blue-tinted shades on the steps of the Elysee Palace as he welcomed the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq.
But his eyewear choice wasn’t to block the midday sun in Paris, but again because of “an eye problem”, staff said, without giving further details.
The president continued to wear his sunglasses during a signing ceremony inside the presidential palace alongside the sultan, and later at a hotel for a Franco-Omani business forum.
Macron’s aviators sparked a viral moment when he wore them at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January during a speech standing up to Donald Trump that was punctuated by the English phrase “for sure”.
He said Europe needed to stand up to “bullies” and be “much stronger and more autonomous” at a time when tensions were mounting over Trump’s designs on Greenland.
Macron embodied the counter-offensive against the US president, symbolised — albeit unwittingly — by his sunglasses.
Trump himself fuelled the buzz by poking fun at Macron for wearing the aviators, quipping, “I watched him sort of be tough” with those “beautiful sunglasses”.
After Davos, demand for the Henry Jullien sunglasses crashed the French eyewear maker’s site and a winemaker produced a bottle of rose whose label featured aviator sunglasses, a tie and the words “For Sure”.
Outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer jumped on the aviators bandwagon with a mock Top Gun poster featuring himself and Macron dressed as fighter pilots.
The French leader — who speaks excellent if accented English — quickly shot back, “For sure.” — AFP
