--- description: Monday Jan. 11 marks the 14th anniversary of Gitmo's first arrivals title: President Obama Will Close Guantanamo Bay Prison: Aide image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f6b47fd28796ae6/698878672dce0167b09e7438/504025712.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Will Close Guantanamo Bay Prison: Aide by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 11, 2016 1:24 PM CUT  Demonstrators with the group Witness Against Torture dress in orange jumpsuits, wear black hoods and hold a banner with the image of Mohammed al Hamiri while demanding that U.S. President Barack Obama close the military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, outside the White House January 8, 2016 in Washington, DC. AChip Somodevilla—Getty Images Demonstrators with the group Witness Against Torture dress in orange jumpsuits, wear black hoods and hold a banner with the image of Mohammed al Hamiri while demanding that U.S. President Barack Obama close the military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, outside the White House January 8, 2016 in Washington, DC. AChip Somodevilla—Getty ImagesChip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 11, 2016 1:24 PM CUT White House Chief of Staff [Denis McDonough](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/01/10/obama-to-shut-guantanamo-before-leaves-office-says-white-house-chief-staff.html "undefined") said the president feels obligated to his successor to close the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba before he leaves office. “He feels an obligation to his successor to close that, and that’s why we’re going to do it,” the chief of staff said on [Fox News Sunday](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/01/10/obama-to-shut-guantanamo-before-leaves-office-says-white-house-chief-staff.html "undefined"). McDonough was pressed about how Obama was going to accomplish that goal, especially given some Congressional lawmakers’ aversion to letting the detainees go. Obama has whittled away at the Guantanamo Bay population throughout his presidency, but has had no luck in keeping his campaign promise of closing the facility, which held suspects after the 9/11 terror attacks. The president argues the facility is costly to maintain and a recruiting tool for terrorists. McDonough said the president will present Congress with a detailed plan to close the prison, but did not completely rule out Obama using his executive authority to close the prison if his Congressional plan fails. “The president just said he’s going to present a plan to Congress and work with Congress and then we’ll make some final determination,” McDonough said Sunday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4174931/president-obama-will-close-guantanamo-bay-prison-aide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4174931/president-obama-will-close-guantanamo-bay-prison-aide/"},"headline":"President Obama Will Close Guantanamo Bay Prison: Aide","datePublished":"2016-01-11T13:24:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:57:04.776Z","description":"Monday Jan. 11 marks the 14th anniversary of Gitmo's first arrivals","url":"https://time.com/4174931/president-obama-will-close-guantanamo-bay-prison-aide/","keywords":["White House","Foreign Policy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f6b47fd28796ae6/698878672dce0167b09e7438/504025712.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f6b47fd28796ae6/698878672dce0167b09e7438/504025712.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Activists Call On Obama For Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility To Be Closed","caption":"Activists Call On Obama For Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility To Be Closed","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—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/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4174931/president-obama-will-close-guantanamo-bay-prison-aide/","name":"President Obama Will Close Guantanamo Bay Prison: Aide"}}]}] ```