Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones caught a video of a train meeting between three European leaders in a May 9 video, claiming they used drugs and tried to hide it.

The video shows French President Emmanuel Macron sitting at the table with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. On the table in front of them were two blue folders, two water cups and a small white object. These three people laughed for the gathered photographer. Just like when the shutter click started, Macron took the wrinkled white object from the table and clenched it in his fist.

Jones said in a May 11 x post: "Development Scandal: Macron, Starmer and Melz were captured by video as they returned from Kiev. A bag of white powder on the table. "No explanation."

As of May 13, Jones' position was believed to be more than 29.5 million times, and he has promoted narratives of drug use in several more positions. "Broken: This is Coke," he said in another post on May 11 later that day. A few hours later, he shared another photo where he said "clearly" showed "a bag of blows." Similar posts are spread in Spanish.

Jones did not respond to Politifact's request for comment. But the original video of the meeting of high-resolution photos captured by AFP News and the Associated Press and AP shows that the white object taken from the table Macron is not a bag of white powder — it is a piece of paper towel.

The Associated Press's cropped version enlarges items on the table on the table, in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

Elysee, the official X account of the French Presidential Palace and the residence of the Elysse Palace, posted images and also showed pictures of the table that appeared to be tissues. It says on X that the white object is a "nosed" organization, adding: "This fake news is spread abroad and at home by the enemy of France. We must be wary of the manipulation."

In an email to Politifact, a German government spokesman described Jones' allegations as "absurd".

Jones' post also mistakenly found another detail. He said Zelenskyy "just received" Macron, Starmer and Merz. But, news reports say leaders are meeting Zelenskyy when the photos and videos are captured. They have not met him yet.

We asked a digital forensic expert to analyze the close-up photos posted by Jones, saying he "clearly" showed a bag. Experts say they don't believe it is true.

VS Subrahmanian, a Northwestern University computer science professor and digital forensic expert Hany Farid, a digital forensic expert at the University of California, told Politifact that images can be modified using artificial intelligence to produce images that may make objects look less like tissue.

How does the narrative of cocaine spread?

Darren Linvill, a communications professor at Clemson University, studied false propaganda in Russia, said he first mentioned the narrative in French on May 10.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova posted images of the meeting on the messaging app telegraph around 7:34 ET; she added red circles around the white objects on the table. Her headline says that according to a report from The Guardian and Google Translate her posts from Russian to English, Macron, Starmer and Merz forgot to “give up their utensils” before the reporter arrived. Her post also described Zelenskyy as an "unbalanced drug addict" who used cocaine in 2022.

Linvill said there was a surge in false narratives on the morning of May 11 on the rise in UK social media, including X, Facebook and Reddit. It was amplified and promoted "known as part of the Russian Storm 1516 campaign distribution network."

Russian disinformation experts told Politifact that Russian influence movements are not uncommon to falsely accuse foreign leaders of illegal drug use, especially cocaine.

"Anything that makes competitor leaders seem debauchery and corrupt is in their favor," Linville said. "Russia wants to undermine the legitimacy of Western democracy in order to make its system look better."

Scott Radnitz, a professor at the University of Washington at Jackson Institute of International Studies, said cocaine claimed that Zelenskyy used drugs “a long-running Kremlin narrative.”

In 2024, a senior Russian official called Zelenskyy a "illegal drug addict" and accused him of trying to continue the Ukrainian war to defend his power.

In 2022, Politifact also conducted a fact-check, which shows that Zelenskyy said he was indeed cocaine. Zelenskyy said in the original video that he likes coffee and denied that he uses cocaine. Such rumors can be traced back to the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, when Zelenskyy's political rival challenged him to drug testing, which Zelenskyy tested without finding any narcotics. We have found no reliable news reports supporting Zelenskyy's claim to use drugs.

Radnitz said far-right online influencers like Jones often spread pro-Kremlin conspiracy theories. Some reports say Jones' website Infowars has republished more than 1,000 articles from Russian state-sponsored stores.

"In this case, the cocaine links have been expanded to include world leaders to discredit Ukraine's originally successful diplomatic involvement," Radniz said.

*Political researcher Caryn Baird contributed to the report. *