--- title: Barack Obama Wears Backwards Hat on Vacation with Michelle description: Barack Obama and Michelle are enjoying a vacation on Richard Branson's Caribbean island, where Obama was seen wearing a backwards hat. canonical: https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/ author: Lena Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-01T20:46:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:15:25.740Z og:title: Obama's Now Focusing on Wearing a Backwards Hat on Vacation og:description: Beach vibes og:url: https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5e3aaf3d051de3a/6988b733656a3f669bbce87f/president-obama-michelle-obama-vacation-after-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-OBAMA-DEPARTURE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama's Now Focusing on Wearing a Backwards Hat on Vacation twitter:description: Beach vibes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5e3aaf3d051de3a/6988b733656a3f669bbce87f/president-obama-michelle-obama-vacation-after-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Barack Obama's Now Mainly Focusing on Wearing This Casual Backwards Hat > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5b234ff3-e6f6-4eb3-818d-a348e5021a77&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Obamas Board Helicopter to Leave the U.S. Capitol [Watch (HLS stream): Obamas Board Helicopter to Leave the U.S. Capitol](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LsO2MvIc.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2017-01-20. Barack and Michelle Obama board a military helicopter from the U.S. Capitol following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States._ by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Feb 1, 2017 8:46 PM UTC Barack and Michelle Obama board a military helicopter from the U.S. Capitol following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Feb 1, 2017 8:46 PM UTC Barack Obama is living up to his promise of taking Michelle on a “very nice [vacation](http://time.com/4527388/president-obama-espn-undefeated-minorities/).” [After the inauguration](http://time.com/4641318/barack-obama-white-house-donald-trump-inauguration/), the former First Couple took a trip to [Palm Springs](http://people.com/home/president-obama-in-palm-springs-house/), but then traded in the desert sun for the warm Caribbean waters. He and Michelle traveled to the [British Virgin Islands](http://motto.time.com/4649030/president-obama-michelle-obama-vacation-after-white-house/) — specifically Necker Island, which is owned by billionaire Richard Branson — and are embracing all aspects of beach bum lifestyle, [according](http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a42587/barack-michelle-obama-necker-island/) to _Elle_. The Obamas’ new laid-back vibes becomes most apparent in their sartorial choices. The former president has always been an avid proponent of wearing baseball caps, but he took that enthusiasm one step further while on vacation. A Twitter video shows Barack and Michelle walking along the beach looking just like any other casual beach-goers. The former First Lady looks stylish in short shorts, a fedora and braids. But it’s Barack who is the real surprise as he sports a _backwards_ hat. > [](https://twitter.com/Phil%5FLewis%5F/status/826660267341783044) If he’s wearing a backwards hat now, what does this mean about [dad jeans](http://time.com/4632834/michelle-obama-mom-jeans/)? ## Transcript [00:00] [ SOUND ] I guess [ INAUDIBLE ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/"},"headline":"Barack Obama's Now Mainly Focusing on Wearing This Casual Backwards Hat","datePublished":"2017-02-01T20:46:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:15:25.740Z","description":"Beach vibes","url":"https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5e3aaf3d051de3a/6988b733656a3f669bbce87f/president-obama-michelle-obama-vacation-after-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lena Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5e3aaf3d051de3a/6988b733656a3f669bbce87f/president-obama-michelle-obama-vacation-after-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-OBAMA-DEPARTURE","caption":"US-POLITICS-OBAMA-DEPARTURE","creditText":"MANDEL NGAN—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":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/","name":"Barack Obama's Now Mainly Focusing on Wearing This Casual Backwards Hat"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Obamas Board Helicopter to Leave the U.S. Capitol","description":"Barack and Michelle Obama board a military helicopter from the U.S. Capitol following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LsO2MvIc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-01-20T18:16:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LsO2MvIc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4656707/barack-obama-vacation-photos/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```