Trần Thị Nguyệt Thu is the former Spouse of President of Vietnam ('' de facto'' First Lady) during her husband

Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (; born 20 July 1954) is a Vietnamese former politician who served as the 11th president of Vietnam from 2021 until his resignation in 2023 amidst a series of corruption scandals. He also was the seventh prime minister from ...

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

from April 2021 to January 2023, when he resigned amid a series of corruption scandals. She was previously the Spouse of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

during her husband's premiership from 2016 to 2021. She is known for her elegant fashion style, often wearing the traditional Vietnamese dress ''

áo dài (; , ) is a modernized Vietnamese national garment consisting of a long split tunic worn over silk trousers. It can serve as formalwear for both men and women. translates as shirt' is derived from a Middle Chinese word () meaning "padded ...

,'' and is occasionally dubbed the ''First Lady of Vietnam'' by the

overseas Vietnamese Overseas Vietnamese (, , or ) refers to the Vietnamese diaspora living outside of Vietnam. The global overseas Vietnamese population is estimated at 5 to 6 million people. The largest communities are in the United States, with over 2.3 million ...

press.

Biography

Spouse of the Prime Minister and President

Mariko Suga Yoshihide Suga Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Tran Thi Nguyet Thu 20201019 2

Since her husband's ascend to the premiership in 2016 and the presidency in 2021, Madame Thu has accompanied Mr. Phúc on various state visits and received many foreign dignitaries, including hosting first ladies and spouses of foreign heads of states. She is known for her fashion style, often wearing the traditional Vietnamese dress ''

'' and matching its color to the

necktie A necktie, long tie, or simply a tie, is a cloth article of formal neckwear or office attire worn for decorative or symbolic purposes, resting under a folded shirt collar or knotted at the throat, and usually draped down the chest. On rare o ...

of her husband, which has become an

internet sensation Internet phenomena are social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet, such as Internet memes, which include popular catchphrases, images, viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly ...

in Vietnam.

Family

Madame Thu has two children with Mr. Phúc. Their son, Nguyễn Xuân Hiếu, is currently the Chief of the Central Office of the Vietnamese Youth Union. Their daughter, Nguyễn Thị Xuân Trang (born 1986), is a businesswoman and major shareholder of the Gateway International School in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. Ms. Trang is married to Vũ Chí Hùng, who is currently the deputy director of the General Department of Taxation at the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam.

Controversy

Thu has attracted controversy due to her alleged ties to the

Việt Á scandal The Việt Á scandal was a bribery and corruption scandal that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. In 2020 and 2021, bribed Vietnamese government officials to sell COVID-19 testing, COVID-19 RT-PCR tests, at a heavy mark-up to provinc ...

involving bribery and overpricing of COVID-19 test kit, which is partially responsible for her husband's resignation. In his resignation address, former President Phúc denied any

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

insinuating that his wife was associated with the

.Some dissident organizations have urged for her arrest, arguing that not prosecuting Thu would not reflect well on the anti-graft campaigns of General Secretary

Nguyễn Phú Trọng Nguyễn Phú Trọng ( ; 14 April 194419 July 2024) was a Vietnamese politician and political theorist who served as general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 2011 until his death in 2024. As the head of the party's Secretaria ...

. Others, like the ''Việt Nam Thời Báo'', a

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...

publication of the Independent Association of Vietnamese Journalists, disagreed and instead called on the

Vietnam Women's Union The Vietnam Women's Union (, VWU) in Vietnamese, is a socio-political organization that represents and defends the legal and legitimate rights and interests of Women in Vietnam. Originally founded on October 20, 1930, there are currently over 13 m ...

to protect the "dignity" of Thu, claiming that Thu was used as a

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

by the

Central Propaganda Department The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ...

of the Communist Party to discredit and force her husband into resignation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thu, Trần Thị Nguyệt Living people People from Quảng Nam province 21st-century Vietnamese women politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Spouses of Vietnamese presidents