In a candid moment, the former first lady finally revealed what really fueled her absence — and why it had everything to do with reclaiming control of her own life.
Michelle Obama has broken her silence on her controversial decision to skip Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, and she’s setting the record straight.
“My decision to skip the inauguration, you know, what people don’t realize from my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism,” she explained.
Michelle Obama opening up about skipping Donald Trump’s second inauguration from a video dated April 24, 2025. | Source: YouTube/NBC News
“People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason, that they had to assume that my marriage was falling,” the former first lady added.
Michelle didn’t name names, but she made it clear that skipping the event was part of a larger, intentional shift in how she approaches her life. Her absence from the inauguration raised eyebrows as it has become a tradition for former presidents and their wives to participate.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama at the inauguration of Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. | Source: Getty Images
“Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” a statement from the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama revealed.
With Barack attending solo, and every other former president and first lady present — including Bill and Hillary Clinton and George and Laura Bush — Michelle’s no-show fueled a wave of speculation.
Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama at the opening night on day one of the 2023 US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28 in New York. | Source: Getty Images
Rumors of marriage trouble swirled as critics pointed to her absence, particularly in light of her skipping former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral just three months prior. CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reported that she was “still in Hawaii on an extended holiday vacation” and could not attend due to scheduling conflict.
But now, Michelle has provided her side of the story — and it had nothing to do with her marriage. “It’s like, while I’m here, really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me,” she added.
It wasn’t the first time Michelle had a difficult emotional experience surrounding Donald’s first inauguration. Back in 2017, after the Obamas left the White House, she admitted that she was “uncontrollably sobbing” once the doors to Air Force One closed.
“That day was so emotional for so many different reasons. We were leaving the home we had been in for eight years, the only home our kids really knew,” she continued.
She had just watched a sea of faces at the new president’s swearing-in that she said lacked diversity — a sharp contrast to what she and Barack had worked to represent. “There was no reflection of the broader sense of America,” she recalled. “No, I was not [in a good mood]! But you had to hold it together like you do for eight years.”
Now, several years removed from the constraints of political life, Michelle is finally putting herself first. Appearing on the April 9 episode of “Work in Progress with Sophia Bush,” the former first lady opened up about the personal freedom she’s found since leaving the White House — and the pressure she felt to make choices that were never really hers to begin with.
Michelle and Barack Obama during the unveiling of their official portraits during a ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery on February 12, 2018, in Washington, D.C. | Source: Getty Images
“I can’t blame my decisions and indecisions on anyone other than me,” she admitted during the podcast. Reflecting on her past, she acknowledged the excuses she used — motherhood, her role as first lady, and the constant demands of public life — to avoid making choices for herself.
“I used their lives as an excuse for why I couldn’t do something.” Michelle described her current chapter as both empowering and daunting. “It is whatever I want…all of my choices are for me,” she told host Sophia.
“But it’s also a little scary because as a mom and a busy person I always had…it was somebody else’s excuse. Why didn’t I do this? Why haven’t I gone there?” she added.
Michelle even poked fun at her former constraints, joking, “That’s a good get out of jail free card. ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t come. I’m married to the president.'”
Ultimately, her decision to skip Donald’s inauguration was a moment of personal agency — one that symbolized her ongoing journey to reclaim her own voice and desires.
“It took everything in my power to not do what was right or the thing that was perceived as right,” she said, “but do the thing that was right for me.” However, this shift in perspective wasn’t an easy choice. “It was an important test for me just as a woman, as an independent person,” she revealed.
“Because like all women on a lot of levels, I operate from guilt. What should I do? What is the best thing for everybody else? Right? Because it’s easier for me to say, well, I did this because it was what I was supposed to do. Right,” Michelle added.
In the end, Michelle Obama’s decision was never about public opinion. It was about something deeper — a choice she knew she had to make for reasons only she needed to understand.
