Barack Obama's Third Term

He was supposed to retire to a triumphant post-presidency. Then Trump happened. Now, as JASON ZENGERLE reports, Obama is gearing up for a political battle he never planned to wage—and has no intention of losing

- Jason Zengerle

THE DAY AFTER Donald Trump’s election, morning dawned with a drizzle in Washington, D.C. And at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a few dozen White House staffers crowded into the West Wing office of Josh Earnest, President Obama’s press secretary.

They were a bleary-eyed bunch— from both lack of sleep and an excess of trauma—struggling still to grasp the historic surprise of Trump’s win only hours earlier. Earnest tried his best to raise their spirits, reminding the aides that they all still had jobs to do, that they needed to “run through the tape.” He was in the middle of his pep talk when word came that the group was wanted down the hall. Barack Obama had summoned them to his office. 

The team trudged through the White House corridor, including in their ranks a number of junior members who’d never been to the Oval Office before, much less met Obama. They filed in, lined the perimeter wall, and turned their eyes toward the president, who stood in front of the Resolute desk along with Vice President Joe Biden. Obama had been up late the night before, too, watching the election results. Around three o’clock in the morning, he’d placed phone calls to both Hillary Clinton and Trump. But Obama evinced neither fatigue nor despair. Instead, he projected an energized sense of calm.