--- title: President Obama Doesn't Stress About His Daughters' Dating description: During an interview in Raleigh, North Carolina, the president explained why he isn't stressing about Malia and Sasha hanging out with boys. canonical: https://time.com/4558830/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-04T19:49:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:46.883Z og:title: Why President Obama Isn’t Worried About His Daughters' Dating Lives og:description: 'There’s only so much these guys can do' og:url: https://time.com/4558830/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe61dd95acaf61fc/6988ad10524fc0f88bdfa201/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Obama Pardons National Thanksgiving Turkey og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why President Obama Isn’t Worried About His Daughters' Dating Lives twitter:description: 'There’s only so much these guys can do' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe61dd95acaf61fc/6988ad10524fc0f88bdfa201/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why President Obama Isn’t Worried About His Daughters' Dating Lives by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Nov 4, 2016 7:49 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 25: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks with his daughters Sasha (L) and Malia during the annual turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House November 25, 2015 in Washington, DC. In a tradition dating back to 1947, the president pardons a turkey, sparing the tom -- and his alternate -- from becoming a Thanksgiving Day feast. This year, Americans were asked to choose which of two turkeys would be pardoned and to cast their votes on Twitter. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 25: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks with his daughters Sasha (L) and Malia during the annual turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House November 25, 2015 in Washington, DC. In a tradition dating back to 1947, the president pardons a turkey, sparing the tom -- and his alternate -- from becoming a Thanksgiving Day feast. This year, Americans were asked to choose which of two turkeys would be pardoned and to cast their votes on Twitter. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Nov 4, 2016 7:49 PM UTC Dating can be stressful, especially when it comes to meeting the parents. Now imagine dating a daughter of the [President of the United States](http://time.com/4557060/barack-obama-florida-rally/), the man who just happens to be the leader of the free world. Even though [Malia](http://time.com/4364199/malia-obama-high-school-graduation-photos/) and Sasha Obama have had notoriously private social media lives, America’s [cool dad](http://time.com/4543490/obama-dances-to-drake-hotline-bling/), President [Barack Obama](http://time.com/4552711/president-barack-obama-full-frontal-samantha-bee/), isn’t too worried about his daughters’ dating lives. In fact, he’s “pretty relaxed” about it, [according](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-worried-daughters-dating-secret-service/story?id=43300036) to _ABC News._ During an [interview](https://soundcloud.com/abc11-wtvd/obama-talks-about-first-daughters-dating) on [WDCG radio ](http://g105.iheart.com/onair/bob-and-the-showgram-47702/interview-with-president-barack-obama-15268124/)in Raleigh, North Carolina, the president explained why he isn’t stressing about Malia and Sasha hanging out with boys. He credits [First Lady Michelle Obama](http://time.com/4555770/michelle-obama-ina-garten-white-house/) for being a positive influence on his daughters, and said, “she’s such a great example of how she carries herself, her self-esteem not depending on boys to validate how you look or you know, not letting yourself be judged by anything other than your character and intelligence.” He pats himself on the back as well, telling the station he hopes he has “been a good example” of showing respect to his wife. But there’s a more tangible reason why President Obama doesn’t let his daughters’ [dating](http://motto.time.com/4395499/ayesha-stephen-curry-dating-type/) keep him up at night: Malia and Sasha are constantly flanked by the Secret Service. These bachelors must not only impress the first daughters, but they also have to keep their cool in front of the agents. President Obama joked, “There’s only so much these guys can do!” President Obama’s nonchalant demeanor contrasts what [first daughter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361620/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F2) coming-of-age movies such as [_Chasing Liberty_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360139/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F1)or [_My Date With the President’s Daughter_ ](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151683/?ref%5F=nv%5Fsr%5F1) have previously shown, especially as Malia heads to Harvard after a [gap year. ](http://time.com/4313660/malia-ann-obama-gap-year-harvard-university/) \[[ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-worried-daughters-dating-secret-service/story?id=43300036)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4558830/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4558830/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating/"},"headline":"Why President Obama Isn’t Worried About His Daughters' Dating Lives","datePublished":"2016-11-04T19:49:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:46.883Z","description":"'There’s only so much these guys can do'","url":"https://time.com/4558830/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe61dd95acaf61fc/6988ad10524fc0f88bdfa201/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe61dd95acaf61fc/6988ad10524fc0f88bdfa201/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Pardons National Thanksgiving Turkey","caption":"President Obama Pardons National Thanksgiving Turkey","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":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4558830/president-obama-malia-sasha-dating/","name":"Why President Obama Isn’t Worried About His Daughters' Dating Lives"}}]}] ```