PoliticsMichelle Obama Reveals She Would 'Actively Work Against' Husband Barack Trying to Run for President Again: 'Two Terms Is Enough'

Michelle Obama is not interested in being the first lady again.
Jan. 21 2026, Published 11:08 a.m. ET
Michelle Obama is not keen on the idea of husband Barack running for a third term.
Appearing on the Wednesday, January 21, episode of "Call Her Daddy," the former first lady made it clear she wouldn't support her husband in another bid for the White House.
When host Alex Cooper asked if the 44th president would be interested in leading the country again if Donald Trump changed the law, Michelle bluntly replied, "I hope not...I would actively work against that."
'There's So Many Talented People Out There'

Michelle Obama 'hopes' husband Barack wouldn't try to run for a third term.
Repeating her sentiment, Michelle, 62, said, "I would be at home working against it, you know? And maybe a lot of people would be like, 'good, we don't want him anyway.'"
"I do believe in the need for new vision, right?" the two-time FLOTUS continued. "I mean the two terms is not just about 'we like them, we want…' it's just like, we're changing and growing so fast..."
"This is a hard job," she noted. "And it requires new energy, new vision all the time. New ways of looking at the world, right? So I do believe that eight years is enough. Like, you know, so, and there's so many talented people out there."
'This New Generation Is Coming Up'

'I do believe that eight years is enough,' the former first lady said.
The Becoming author went on to question why the country would want to "keep going to the same people" and restated her view that "two terms is enough."
"It's like, there's all these young smart people who are just looking outside with their ideas," she explained. "As leaders get older and older, you know, the older you get, the just, you just live a different life as an older, established person. And I think there's room for that wisdom, but there's room for new ideas to come in."
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'That's Why We Move On'

Barack Obama served as president from 2009 to 2017.
"It's just like we've heard and experienced your ideas. This country is constantly evolving. What are the next thoughts?" Michelle expounded. "This new generation is coming up. They travel more, they know more about the world, they're exposed in a different way."
She then concluded, "Like, I'm really, really curious about their perspectives on how to fix some of this stuff. Like, we don't have all the answers and that's okay. That's why we move on."
Michelle Obama Addresses Her Comments About a Female Presidency

Michelle Obama doesn't think America is 'ready' for a female president yet.
When the topic of a future female president came up, Michelle explained her recent statement that America isn't "ready for a woman."
Citing her husband, the mother-of-two said, "Change takes time and context matters, right?" before pointing to the fact that 50 years ago, American citizens "couldn't marry the opposite race."
"There's a lot of change. It just happened," she continued. "But that means that the remnants of what has been there and what we've been socialized is really deeply embedded in who we are. And whether people really feel yet that they can follow a woman as president..."
"It's like, come on people, you know, there were people who, there are men out there that were not gonna vote for a woman," the Harvard Law grad noted. "You people had those conversations, right? Let's just be real about it and let's put that on the table and talk about, well, what's that about?"

