‘Surprised Like Everybody Else’: Obama on the Election of Donald Trump

In “My President Was Black,” The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates examined Barack Obama’s tenure in office, and his legacy. The story was built, in part, around a series of conversations he had with the president. This is a transcript of the final of those four encounters, which took place by phone after the election, on November 17, 2016. You can find the other interviews, as well as responses to the story and to these conversations, here.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Hello.

Barack Obama: Hey, man, how are you doing?

Coates: I’m okay. How are you, Mr. President?

Obama: Well, I’m doing fine. I’m in Germany, so this is how I roll this week, I guess. I guess I’ve got some business back home in between doing my business out here.

Coates: Yeah, I guess it’s about 10 o’clock at night over there.

Yeah, but it’s all right. I’m a night owl. And I didn’t think this needed to be a long conversation. I just figured that after all our conversation before the election, and then in the wake of the