Barack Obama has 'whale of a time' on holiday as US in 'chaos'

The US may have fallen into a "state of chaos", says GQ, but least one Democrat is enjoying himself amid President Donald Trump's first weeks in the White House. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have been holidaying on Sir Richard Branson's private Moskito Island in the Caribbean.

Branson, who flew the former first couple out to the island on his jet, said Obama had missed the wilder side of life since becoming president in 2008.

He said: "One of the first stories Barack told me when he and Michelle arrived on Moskito Island was how, just before he became president, he had been surfing on a dangerous break in Hawaii.

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"When he came in from an exhilarating session, the new head of his security team turned to him and said, 'This will be the last time you surf for eight years.'"

Obama certainly looked to be making up for lost time. A picture uploaded to Instagram yesterday shows him bare-armed and grinning, seemingly without a care in the world as he rides the waves around the island.

All holidays come to an end, however. The Obamas will soon return to Washington DC, where their younger daughter, Sasha, is still attending high school.