Emmanuel Macron put on a brave face this morning as he stepped out with his wife Brigitte for the final day of a state visit to Vietnam that has been overshadowed by what appeared to be a marital dispute caught on camera.
The French president last night sought to calm the furore triggered by a televised squabble with the First Lady by claiming they were just playfighting, while blaming disinformation campaigns for taking the video out of context.
The footage in question showed Brigitte Macron giving her husband a two-handed shove in the face moments before they stepped off their presidential jet to be greeted by delegates in Hanoi on Sunday evening.
Today the couple were seen arm in arm as the president arrived at Hanoi University of Science and Technology to deliver a speech – a visit that came hours after Mr Macron said crackpot conspiracy theorists were working to intensify speculation around the state of his marriage.
They were later clasping one anothers hands as they boarded their plane to depart Vietnam this afternoon before turning to wave goodbye to their hosts with beaming smiles.
In comments to reporters, Macron pointed out that he had recently been falsely accused of doing cocaine with fellow European leaders Sir Keir Starmer and Germanys Friedrich Merz, and of having a physical altercation with Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
But the rumour mill was sent into overdrive by Mr Macrons office which first issued a statement claiming the video was an AI-generated fake, only to climb down hours later and admit the clip was genuine.
My wife and I were squabbling, we were rather joking, and I was taken by surprise, Mr Macron told reporters in Vietnam last night.
Now it has become a kind of planetary catastrophe, and some are even coming up with theories.
For three weeks, there have been people who have watched videos and who think that I shared a bag of cocaine, that I had a mano-a-mano with a Turkish president and now that I am having a domestic dispute with my wife.
In these three videos, I took a tissue, shook someones hand and just joked with my wife, as we do quite often. Nothing more.
None of this is true… so everyone needs to calm down.
French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive at Hanoi University of Science and Technology
The president last night sought to calm the furore triggered by a televised squabble with his wife
Frances President Emmanuel Macron was pushed in the face by his wife Brigitte Macron as the couple arrived in Vietnam Sunday night
Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening showed Macrons plane door opening to reveal him being shoved
Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron board their plane for departure, clasping one anothers hands
Frances President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron wave as they board their plane for departure following their visit to Vietnam
The latest object of speculation was generated by the French First Lady on Sunday, moments after the French presidential jet touched down in Vietnam.
Shocking video of the incident shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi showed the French President standing on his plane in an open doorway before making his way down the stairs.
He appeared to be in conversation with someone in the cabin who was obscured from view. That person was quickly revealed to be Brigitte Macron, who planted her hands on her husbands face and shoved him.
The president was startled but quickly realised he was in full view of TV cameras and turned to wave through the open plane door.
The couple then proceeded down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Mrs Macron did not take her husbands offered arm.
Macrons office initially denied the authenticity of the images, suggesting they had been AI-generated – but later pulled a U-turn and admitted they were genuine.
A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couples harmless squabble.
An Elysee official played down the moment, denying it showed an argument between the couple, who have been married since 2007: It was a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh.
It was a moment of closeness, the official said.
Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident.
It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around, the second source told reporters.
Its a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists, the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident.
The relationship between Macron, 47, and his 72-year-old wife has long been a subject of fascination at home and abroad.
She was a drama teacher and he a pupil when they met at a private school in their hometown of Amiens in northeast France. A mother of three children, Brigitte divorced her husband and began a relationship with Macron while he was in his late teens.
French President Emmanuel Macron (C) and his wife Brigitte Macron (2-R) and Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (2-L) pose for a photo as they visit the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (L)
Frances President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron walk along a street in Hanoi on May 26, 2025
The president appeared startled after the shove but quickly recovered and turned to wave through the open door
The couple then proceeded down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron refused her husbands offered arm
Frances President Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L), Vietnams General Secretary of the Communist Party To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly (C-R) visit the Temple of Literature in Hanoi on May 26
Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer were recently at the centre of fake internet accusations that they were taking cocaine on a train journey to Ukraine
The video clip circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader.
Macron and his office went on to blame manipulations on networks that are quite well-traceable, specifically pointing the finger at the Russians and the extremists in France.
Read MoreEXCLUSIVE The giveaway sign that Macron was ‘furious’ with wife Brigitte for viral push in face… as he tries to brush it off as ‘joking around’ 
Meanwhile, Russias foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who had actively promoted the cocaine disinformation earlier this month, wrote on Telegram that Macron had received a right hook from his wife.
She said Macrons advisers would try to explain away the gesture by blaming Russia. Maybe it was the hand of the Kremlin? she said, with heavy sarcasm.
Macrons visit to Vietnam, the first by a French president in almost a decade, comes as he aims to boost Frances influence in its former colony.
Vietnam, which has a heavily export-driven economy, has made concessions to the US in trade talks in a bid to avoid 46% tariffs.
But Brussels has concerns that Vietnams efforts to buy more American goods could come at Europes expense.
US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union, but softened his stance two days later, restoring a July 9 deadline for talks between Washington and Brussels.
Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China.
He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore.
Speaking on the first day of the tour today, Macron called for the preservation of a world order based on law.
During a press statement alongside his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong in Hanoi, Macron said a rules-based order was necessary at a time of both great imbalance and a return to power-driven rhetoric.
Macron signed more than a dozen agreements on defense, nuclear power and trade, including one with the Vietnamese budget airline company VietJet and Airbus to buy 20 A330-900 planes.
He paid tribute at a Hanoi war memorial to those who fought the French colonial rulers and met with his counterpart Luong Cuong, as well as Communist Party general secretary To Lam.
Macron also visited the 11th century Temple of Literature in the heart of the Vietnamese capital.
Frances President Emmanuel Macron (L) and his wife Brigitte Macron attend a ceremony at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi on May 26
The French President and First Lady are seen during the No to Bullying award ceremony at the Elysee Palace last week
Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron attend the football French Cup Final between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Stade de Reims at Stade de France on May 24
France and Vietnams sovereignty partnership could be the central axis of Frances approach in the Indo-Pacific, Macron said.
France has demonstrated its desire to defend international maritime law when it deployed the French carrier strike group in the South China Sea in early 2025, Macron said.
China and Vietnam have long had a maritime agreement governing the Gulf of Tonkin, but have been locked in competing claims in the South China Sea over the Spratly and Paracel Islands and maritime areas.
Macron said France would also support Vietnam in key sectors, including critical minerals, high-speed rail, civil nuclear energy and aerospace, and focus on partnering with the Asian nation to help it transition away from dirty coal power while adding new capacity in renewable energy and civil nuclear power.
This is Macrons first trip to Vietnam since he took office in 2017.
France and Vietnam share a comprehensive strategic partnership, Vietnams highest diplomatic status, also held with Russia, China, and the US.
