File photo: Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
Former US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, were spotted together over the weekend on a lavish getaway in Portofino, Italy, aboard Steven Spielberg’s $250 million superyacht, the Seven Seas, putting recent speculation about their marriage to rest.The former first lady arrived first on Friday, climbing aboard the 357-foot luxury vessel via a tender. As per TMZ, photographs captured her greeting Spielberg with a warm hug, wearing a casual double denim outfit and Birkenstocks. She spent time chatting with Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, while enjoying the scenic Italian coastline. Barack Obama joined the trip the following evening, arriving with a full entourage that included Italian intelligence personnel, bomb-sniffing dogs, and the Italian military police, the carabinieri, as per the New York Post. He was later seen on the yacht’s deck having breakfast with Michelle, before the two couples headed ashore to Punta Chiappa for lunch. At one point, Barack was photographed focused on a laptop while seated alone on the yacht.The outing comes days after Barack made light-hearted remarks about his marriage, joking that he had spent “over eight years now trying to dig myself out of a hole with Michelle,” calling it “challenging” but noting that he was “almost breaking even at the moment”, as per the Daily Mail. The couple, married for nearly 33 years, share daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24.The Obamas had previously addressed marital rumours during a joint appearance on Michelle’s podcast in July, in which she dismissed speculation about trouble in their relationship. “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man,” she said. Barack added humorously, “She took me back! It was touch and go for a while”.This was the first time the Obamas were seen together publicly since the podcast appearance. Their vacation coincided with a high-profile memorial for Charlie Kirk, the slain co-founder of Turning Point USA, held in Glendale, Arizona. Barack had offered prayers for Kirk’s family, describing the murder as “horrific and a tragedy”.Rumours surrounding the couple’s marriage had intensified earlier this year when Michelle skipped high-profile events, including President Trump’s inauguration and Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
