During his trip to Saint Martin to inspect the reconstruction work after the Caribbean island was devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria last year, Emmanuel Macron talked to the locals about their life after the calamity.

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik that while on a four-day tour of the island of Saint Martin, French President Emmanuel Macron was pictured alongside two shirtless young men, one of whom flipped the middle finger at the cameras.

The second bandanna-wearing man, for his part, confessed to Macron that he was a robber and had been recently released from prison. The revelation, however, seemed not to faze the French president as he advised the ex-convict to move forward and contribute to the reconstruction of the hurricane-stricken island.

The image of the trio immediately went viral, generating heated debates among social media users as well as fellow politicians.