Michelle Obama is setting the record straight on her very personal decision to skip Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, which sparked a wave of rumors about the state of her marriage to Barack Obama.
In a revealing new episode of her podcast IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, the 61-year-old mother-of-two broke her silence on what really happened.
"It started with not having anything to wear," Michelle said.
© Andy Wenstrand"I mean, cause I'm always prepared for any funeral, anything. I walk around with the right dress, I travel with clothes just in case something pops off."
But this time, she explained, she deliberately chose not to be ready.
"I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right?"
© Getty ImagesBy refusing to even pack a suitable outfit, Michelle knew she was holding herself accountable to her own decision. "Because if I have a dress ready, that’s my easy out to just say, let me do the right thing [and attend]," she explained.
Why Michelle skipped Trump's inauguration
Barack, 62, attended the inauguration alone, as he had done just weeks earlier when he paid his respects at President Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Michelle’s absence didn’t go unnoticed, and almost immediately, the rumour mill kicked into overdrive.
Speculation swirled, with many questioning why the couple had suddenly appeared apart. Theories ranged from political protest to a marital rift.
But for Michelle, the decision was far more ordinary, even mundane. And the reaction, she admits, left her hurt and confused.
© Getty Images"My decision to skip the inauguration... or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism," she said. "People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason, that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart, you know?"
"That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with – disappointing people" she reflected in another recent interview, this time with actress Sophia Bush for her Work in Progress podcast.
"So much so that this year people were, you know, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing. That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?"
Just days after her podcast aired, the Obamas were spotted on a romantic date night in Washington D.C., dining at the chic Italian restaurant Osteria Mozza in Georgetown.
The couple looked relaxed and happy as they smiled for fans, stopped to wave at diners, and even greeted staff warmly. Barack was seen shaking hands with a worker at the popular spot.
