US President Barack
Obama arrived back in chilly Washington on Sunday after a 16-day holiday in his
native Hawaii, but his wife Michelle was not with him.
Obama
swapped the sun-dappled golf courses of tropical Hawaii for a Washington in the
grip of an Arctic cold snap this weekend, and faces a tough political season
ahead.
The
US president left Honolulu's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Air Force One
just before 9:00 pm on Saturday (0700 GMT Sunday) with his daughters, before
arriving in the US capital eight hours later.
"As
part of her birthday gift from the president, the First Lady will remain in
Hawaii to spend time with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birthday," a
brief White House statement said. Michelle Obama's birthday is on January 17.
Obama
arrived in Hawaii on December 21 along with Michelle and daughters Sasha, 12,
and Malia, 15, and enjoyed several rounds of golf during his stay including
with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, a rare vacation encounter with a
foreign dignitary.
The
Obamas stayed at a rented house near a US Marine Corps base on the northeastern
coast of the island of Oahu, located about a dozen miles (20 kilometers) from
the state capital Honolulu, where Obama was born.
Obama's
approval rating is languishing at near record lows and he is locked in a Cold
War with a surly Congress. He needs quick victories in the run-up to his State
of the Union address at the end of the month, observers say.
Washington (AFP)
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