Michelle Obama Stands by Decision to Skip Donald Trump's Inauguration After Growing Tired of 'Doing the Right Thing': 'It'll Never Be Enough'

Michelle Obama is doubling down on her decision to skip Donald Trump's January 20 inauguration.

During a guest appearance on the Thursday, May 1, episode of Steven Bartlett's "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, the former first lady further defended her absence from the Republican leader's formal admission into office.

"You know, as a box-checking person who has been checking her whole life, doing the right thing, trying to always be an example, always going high … I think I just told myself, ‘I think I’ve done enough of that,’ and if I haven’t, then I never will," the wife of the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama explained.

"It’ll never be enough. So let me start now," she noted after previously opening up about how the choice had to do with putting herself first and learning how to say "no" during the April 23 episode of her and brother Craig Robinson's "IMO" podcast.

While Barack attended Inauguration Day 2025 alongside other past president's, Michelle believes it's the courage he's taught her throughout their marriage that helped her stand behind her decision proudly and gain the confidence to do things like starting her own podcast.

"At the same time I met Barack Obama, he showed up in my life as the opposite of a box checker, but somebody that I describe in my book as an 'ultimate swerver.' He did nothing by the book. He was brilliant and interesting," she recalled. "He was really trying to unpack life in a way that people in my generation weren't trying to do...and I thought, I have to do something more before I settle on this [career], and I think Barack helped give me the courage."

Elsewhere in her chat with Steven, Michelle directly addressed her fellow Americans while reflecting on the country's current leadership under the Trump administration.

"You are not mad at me. You don’t understand a lot about the world, and you’ve been told a lot of things about who people of my skin color are. You’ve been taught to fear me, because of what you’re going through," the Becoming author suggested. "When you put yourself in other people’s shoes, I do get why people are afraid. I do understand it."

Michelle then credited her husband for keeping her optimistic and hopeful for the future of the nation.

"Barack helps me remember. You know, he says, this is still the country that elected Barack Obama twice," she declared.

Michelle additionally called out the billionaires and businessmen seeming to hold high influence over Trump and his cabinet's decisions.

"Business leaders, and people in power, who want power, and haven’t understood their 'why' can lead us down some dark tunnels, right?" she mentioned. "But it’s the empathy for me, that ability to give some perspective that allows them to not take all that hate in and to really see the light in people. It’s just a better way to live, it keeps us from being embittered, it keeps us hopeful, and it keeps us working for people. It’s kind of necessary to get through it."