--- title: Bernie Sanders Will Meet With President Obama description: President Obama will meet privately with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at the White House on Wednesday, the White House says canonical: https://time.com/4195208/bernie-sanders-obama-meeting/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-27T00:40:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:28:03.672Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Will Meet With Bernie Sanders at the White House og:description: But the meeting has "no formal agenda" og:url: https://time.com/4195208/bernie-sanders-obama-meeting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57c67c946a9a5a71/69887aa68e06010dab4644b7/506944644.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: &lt;&gt; on January 26, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Will Meet With Bernie Sanders at the White House twitter:description: But the meeting has "no formal agenda" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57c67c946a9a5a71/69887aa68e06010dab4644b7/506944644.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Will Meet With Bernie Sanders at the White House by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 27, 2016 12:40 AM UTC  on January 26, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. Joe Raedle—2016 Getty Images on January 26, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. Joe Raedle—2016 Getty ImagesJoe Raedle—2016 Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 27, 2016 12:40 AM UTC President Obama will meet privately with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at the White House on Wednesday, the White House says. “Tomorrow, President Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders will meet informally at the White House.,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement Tuesday evening. “The two will meet privately in the Oval Office and there will be no formal agenda.” The two had discussed meeting during the Congressional Holiday Ball, Earnest said. Sen. Sanders is meeting with the president days before the critical Iowa caucus and just days after some of Obama’s strongest statements on the two leading Democratic candidates to date. Though Obama didn’t outright endorse any particular candidate, he [signaled strong support for his former Secretary of State](http://time.com/4192284/president-obama-republicans-2016/) and one-time political opponent, Hillary Clinton. “Bernie came in with the luxury of being a complete long shot and just letting loose,” Obama told _Politico_‘s [Off Message podcast](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/obama-iowa-2016-sanders-off-message-218166). “I think Hillary came in with the both privilege — and burden — of being perceived as the front-runner. … You’re always looking at the bright, shiny object that people haven’t seen before — that’s a disadvantage to her.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4195208/bernie-sanders-obama-meeting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4195208/bernie-sanders-obama-meeting/"},"headline":"President Obama Will Meet With Bernie Sanders at the White House","datePublished":"2016-01-27T00:40:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:28:03.672Z","description":"But the meeting has \"no formal agenda\"","url":"https://time.com/4195208/bernie-sanders-obama-meeting/","keywords":["White House","Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57c67c946a9a5a71/69887aa68e06010dab4644b7/506944644.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/blt57c67c946a9a5a71/69887aa68e06010dab4644b7/506944644.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"<> on January 26, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa.","caption":"on January 26, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa.","creditText":"Joe Raedle—2016 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/4195208/bernie-sanders-obama-meeting/","name":"President Obama Will Meet With Bernie Sanders at the White House"}}]}] ```