--- title: President Obama: Malia, Sasha Aren't Cynical About Election description: President Obama said that he is proudest of his daughters for refraining from feeling cynical in the wake of the presidential election canonical: https://time.com/4638541/president-obama-malia-sasha-donald-trump/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T23:02:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:26.170Z og:title: President Obama: Malia and Sasha 'Don't Get Cynical' About Trump's Victory og:description: "You get knocked down, you get up, brush yourself off and you get back to work" og:url: https://time.com/4638541/president-obama-malia-sasha-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75966921213415d1/6988b604bc6cfc666b3dfd30/president-obama-daughters-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3965 og:image:height: 2230 og:image:alt: President Obama Holds Final News Conference With Two Days Left Before Leaving Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama: Malia and Sasha 'Don't Get Cynical' About Trump's Victory twitter:description: "You get knocked down, you get up, brush yourself off and you get back to work" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75966921213415d1/6988b604bc6cfc666b3dfd30/president-obama-daughters-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: Malia and Sasha 'Don't Get Cynical' About Donald Trump's Victory > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b2f5d9d-5169-4b59-b36c-5a04a272c2cf&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Eliza Berman, Culture Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Culturally curious consumers. An audience tuned into the ideas, entertainment and cultural conversations worth knowing, with added influence among professionals across media, entertainment, creative, brand, communications and consulting. ### TIME Worth Your Time: key statements * Worth Your Time is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Worth Your Time is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b2f5d9d-5169-4b59-b36c-5a04a272c2cf&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/subscribe?i=7b2f5d9d-5169-4b59-b36c-5a04a272c2cf&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What should I watch or read, according to TIME? Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 18, 2017 11:02 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks during his final press conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 2017. President Barack Obama speaks during his final press conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 2017. Pete Marovich—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 18, 2017 11:02 PM UTC President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he is proudest of his daughters for refraining from feeling cynical in the wake of the presidential election. He said Malia and Sasha were disappointed by the outcome, but he praised them for not believing that “America has somehow rejected them or rejected their values.” Obama made the [remarks](http://time.com/4638406/president-obama-final-press-conference-transcript/) in response to the last question at his [final White House press conference](http://time.com/4638301/barack-obama-final-white-house-press-conference/), when asked how he and the First Lady have spoken to Malia and Sasha about the [meaning of the election](http://motto.time.com/4576154/obama-daughters-trump-victory/?iid=sr-link5). He attributed his daughters’ understanding of politics, in part, to the first family’s conversations over dinner during their [eight years in the White House](http://time.com/4631599/malia-sasha-obama/). “I think they have—in part through osmosis, in part through dinner time conversations—appreciated the fact that this is a big complicated country and democracy is messy. It doesn’t always work exactly the way you might want. It doesn’t guarantee certain outcomes,” Obama said. “But if you—if you’re engaged and you’re involved, then there are a lot more good people than bad in this country, and there’s a core decency to this country and—that they’ve got to be a part of lifting that up. And I expect they will be.” First Lady Michelle Obama spoke out against Donald Trump’s rhetoric during the campaign and [gave an impassioned speech](http://motto.time.com/4530580/michelle-obama-donald-trump-comments-sexual-assault/?iid=sr-link1) after a leaked tape revealed Trump [boasting about groping women](http://time.com/4523526/donald-trump-women-leaked-audio/?iid=sr-link1) without their consent. “They paid attention to what their mom said during the campaign and believed it because it’s consistent with what we have tried to teach them in our household and what I’ve tried to model as a father with their mom and what we’ve asked them to expect from future boyfriends or spouses,” President Obama said about his daughters on Wednesday. “But what we’ve also tried to teach them is resilience and we’ve tried to teach them hope and that the only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world. And so, you get knocked down, you get up, brush yourself off and you get back to work. And that tended to be their attitude.” Read President Obama’s full comments about Malia and Sasha below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4638541/president-obama-malia-sasha-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4638541/president-obama-malia-sasha-donald-trump/"},"headline":"President Obama: Malia and Sasha 'Don't Get Cynical' About Donald Trump's Victory","datePublished":"2017-01-18T23:02:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:26.170Z","description":"\"You get knocked down, you get up, brush yourself off and you get back to work. And that tended to be their attitude\"","url":"https://time.com/4638541/president-obama-malia-sasha-donald-trump/","keywords":["motto","Barack Obama","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75966921213415d1/6988b604bc6cfc666b3dfd30/president-obama-daughters-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75966921213415d1/6988b604bc6cfc666b3dfd30/president-obama-daughters-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Holds Final News Conference With Two Days Left Before Leaving Office","caption":"President Obama Holds Final News Conference With Two Days Left Before Leaving Office","creditText":"Pete Marovich—Bloomberg/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/4638541/president-obama-malia-sasha-donald-trump/","name":"President Obama: Malia and Sasha 'Don't Get Cynical' About Donald Trump's Victory"}}]}] ```