Politics

Where Is Barack Obama?

The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement.

First published in The Atlantic on June 8, 2025

by Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic
June 12, 2025 | reading time: 11 Min.

Last month, while Donald Trump was in the Middle East being gifted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, Barack Obama headed off on his own foreign excursion: a trip to Norway, in a much smaller and more tasteful jet, to visit the summer estate of his old friend King Harald V. Together, they would savor the genteel glories of Bygdøyveien in May. They chewed over global affairs and the freshest local salmon, which had been smoked on the premises and seasoned with herbs from the royal garden.

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