US President Barack Obama, in remarks aired late on Sunday, awarded himself a B plus for his first 11 months in office, stressing in an interview with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey that there was still much to be done.
“A good solid B plus,” Obama said during an hour-long, intimate soft-focus ABC network Christmas at the White House special, when Oprah asked what grade he would give himself.
Explaining why he wouldn’t give himself top marks, the president said his administration had “inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt” which they were still working on.
He had earned good points for helping to stabilize the economy, setting a path out of Iraq and restoring the US’ international image, but the job was not yet finished.
“B plus because of the things that are undone. Healthcare is not yet signed. If I get healthcare passed, we tip into A minus,” Obama said, his hair visibly grayer than when he took office on Jan. 20.
Oprah was given an inside tour of the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama, wearing a knee-skimming, long-sleeved plum dress.
They inspected the decorations and trees adorning every nook and cranny of the nation’s most exclusive address, which have taken most of the year to plan.
Pride of place went to a huge Christmas tree in the Blue Room hung with more than 650 baubles collected from around the White House closets and then sent around the country for people to decorate by hand with local scenes.
There was also the 160kg gingerbread White House in the dining room, smothered in white chocolate with a model of Bo, the family dog, sitting by the steps.
Michelle Obama acknowledged that Portuguese waterhound Bo, who showed Oprah that he can “High-five” with his paw, would have his own stocking hanging up for Santa.
“Santa loves Bo too,” the first lady said, adding that the family would be spending the Christmas holidays in Hawaii, where the president spent much of his childhood.
Obama said that if he had a seasonal wish it was: “I want the American people to feel confident that our future is gonna be bright.
“The 21st century will be as much the American century as the 20th century, as long as we maintain our sense of unity, but also our sense of hard work and determination,” the president said.
Sometimes holding Winfrey’s hand or putting his arm around her shoulder, the president said that visits to the White House by ordinary Americans were events that he cherished the most. He recalled one such visit by the mother and father of a fallen soldier.
“Those kinds of moments are the ones that you remember, partly because you’re seeing the place through their eyes,” he said. “When they come here, this is their house. I’m the renter. I’m the borrower. This is the people’s house, and one of the things that Michelle and I have both been trying to do is to make sure that we open this place up.”
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
RSS