Michelle Obama has revealed the one Trump-era policy that “keeps her up at night”.
The former First Lady opened up about Trump’s second term during a wide-ranging conversation on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, where she laid bare her anxieties, frustrations, and a firm refusal to compromise on personal peace.
“In this current climate, for me it’s what’s happening to immigrants,” Obama said. “It’s not the fear for myself anymore. I drive around in a four-car motorcade with a police escort. I’m Michelle Obama.”
However, the ex-FLOTUS did admit that her concerns do remain close to home, adding: “I do still worry about my daughters in the world, even though they are somewhat recognizable.”
Obama, now 61, said her concern centers around people of color and immigrants across America, citing “bias,” “racism,” and “ignorance” that she fears is going unchecked in the current political climate.
Obama also addressed fears about whether migrants are receiving due process under the current administration, hinting at a shift away from judicial fairness.
“Now that we have leadership that is, sort of, indiscriminately determining who belongs and who doesn’t,” she said, “we know that those decisions aren’t being made with courts and with due process.”
She was joined on the podcast by her brother, Craig Robinson, who recalled a traumatic childhood experience in which he was accused by a Black police officer of stealing a new bike. Drawing a parallel to modern-day discrimination, Michelle said she sees echoes of that same bias playing out in immigration enforcement.
Her husband, former President Barack Obama, also weighed in on the state of American politics earlier this month — again without naming Trump — during a speech at Hamilton College.
“Look, I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” he said. “I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech.”
He continued: “I am more troubled by the idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘If you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively.’ That kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”
Why Michelle Skipped Trump’s Inauguration
Michelle also used her own podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, to finally explain why she was absent from Trump’s 2025 inauguration — fueling widespread speculation after she also skipped the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter earlier that month.
.“It started with not having anything to wear,” she said bluntly. “I walk around with the right dress, I travel with clothes just in case something pops off. So 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? Because it’s so easy to just say, let me do the right thing.”
Her decision drew backlash, with critics speculating that it reflected deeper political rifts—or even marital strain with Barack Obama, who attended both events alone.
“My decision to skip the inauguration, what people don’t realize, 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?”
The former First Lady made it clear that her absence had nothing to do with scandal and everything to do with self-care. “I’m at this stage in life where I have to define my life on my terms for the first time,” she shared. “So what are those terms, and going to therapy just to work all that out?”
She added that she’s now teaching her daughters, Sasha and Malia, “the art of saying no.”
“I want them to start practicing now the art of saying no, because I see it in them — pleasing, excelling, not wanting to take anything for granted, always showing gratitude,” she said. “Feeling like they’re enough right now. It’s a practice. It’s a muscle that you have to build. Because if you don’t constantly build it, you don’t develop it.”
Although Michelle Obama attended Trump’s 2020 inauguration, she has since made her stance clear. She’s previously referred to Trump as “a convicted felon, a known slumlord,” and “a predator found liable for sexual abuse,” according to The Independent.
