--- description: President Barack Obama invited the 14-year-old high schooler whose homemade clock was confused for a bomb to the White House Wednesday. title: President Obama Invites Teen Who Built Clock to the White House image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76926427d73a198/698863e00b72e375036e5d77/obama7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Invites Teen Who Built Clock to the White House  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Sep 16, 2015 5:53 PM CUT  US President Barack Obama on Aug. 3, 2015 in Washington. US President Barack Obama on Aug. 3, 2015 in Washington.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Sep 16, 2015 5:53 PM CUT President Barack Obama invited the 14-year-old high schooler [whose homemade clock was confused for a bomb](http://time.com/4036240/ahmed-mohamed-bomb-clock-principal-letter/ "undefined") to the White House. “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?” Obama [wrote](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656 "undefined") on Twitter Wednesday. Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old 9th grader at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, was arrested on Monday and suspended from school after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb. Mohamed said he had built the clock because he is interested in technology. Obama billed his invitation to Mohamed as an opportunity to inspire children to take an interest in science. In recent months, the White House [has worked to encourage](https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/educate-innovate "undefined") young Americans to pursue STEM—science, technology, engineering and math—careers. “We should inspire more kids like you to like science,” Obama wrote. “It’s what makes America great.” Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also chimed in, encouraging Mohamed to “stay curious and keep building.” > [](https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/644167278196600832) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4036805/obama-clock-bomb-texas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4036805/obama-clock-bomb-texas/"},"headline":"President Obama Invites Teen Who Built Clock to the White House","datePublished":"2015-09-16T17:53:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:59:11.929Z","description":"\"Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?\"","url":"https://time.com/4036805/obama-clock-bomb-texas/","keywords":["Education","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76926427d73a198/698863e00b72e375036e5d77/obama7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb76926427d73a198/698863e00b72e375036e5d77/obama7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama","caption":"President Obama","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4036805/obama-clock-bomb-texas/","name":"President Obama Invites Teen Who Built Clock to the White House"}}]}] ```