Barack Obama descended into Washington DC earlier this week for a secret meeting with Democrats to plot his party’s return to power after Donald Trump leaves office.
The 45th president on Wednesday huddled with nearly three dozen freshman House Democrats at an event hosted by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Lawmakers gathered with the former president to discuss surviving a Republican majority in Congress and how to retake the White House.
Obama’s mission at the event was to plan how the Democratic Party would move on without him in the coming years, according to Politico.
‘I get feeling discouraged sometimes,’ Obama told the lawmakers gathered to honor the former president at the private gathering. ‘I get feeling worn out, tired, and embattled. But in our second term, Denis McDonough, my chief of staff, used to pass out stickers based on a conversation that he and I had had that talked about, ‘we do not succumb to cynicism — cynicism is our enemy.’ And it’s pervasive in this town.’
‘And that, I think, is our most important battle, right?’ Obama added. ‘We don’t give into that, and then we’re going to be able to figure out the same stuff.’
Obama then reminded the young Democrats that he was in their situation two decades ago when John Kerry lost to George Bush in 2004 and Republicans ruled Congress.
The former president went on to describe a similar level of despair and chaos that overtook the party in 2024 after Trump defeated Kamala Harris in all seven battleground states.
Obama held a secret with the youngest Democratic lawmakers in DC at an event hosted by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Obama reminded young Democrats that his party was able to regain control of the White House and Congress only a few years after losing to George Bush in 2004
Donald Trump decisively beat Kamala Harris in a landslide victory in 2024 by winning all seven battleground states as Republicans retook Congress
But, Obama noted, everything turned out well for Democrats back in 2004 only a few years later.
‘And two years later, Nancy Pelosi was the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives. And four years later, somehow, I ended up being president. The reason I tell you that is not for you to, you know, feel complacent,’ he said.
‘It’s to indicate that the work that you are doing right now, the investment you’re making, the focus that you’re applying, the issues that you are developing, the interactions that you’re having with your constituencies.’
‘All that is creating the momentum and the opportunity for change.’
Obama’s surge into the White House in ’08 came amid an economic recession for the country and widespread hatred for Bush’s foreign wars in the Middle East.
The former president now hopes that a coalition of Democratic young voices can help lead themselves back to the Congressional majority and White House in the coming years.
Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender Congressional lawmaker, who attended the gathering described the former president’s speech as ‘classic Barack Obama — updated for a 2025, political environment.’
The Delaware lawmaker was spotted talking privately with Obama during the event as the ex-president praised McBride for her high-profile media appearances and messaging.
Sarah McBride is the first openly transgender Congressional representative
Obama has been more openly critical of the Trump administration since the start of the year
McBride told Politico that Obama’s plan to guide Democrats out of their leaderless wilderness is not by relying one singular political figure.
‘He recognizes that in this moment, it’s not going to be any single voice that saves us. It’s not going to be a former political leader or any single current political leader,’ the lawmaker said.
‘It’s going to be all of us, including a broad bench of younger Democratic elected officials who can take the baton and carry it forward.’
