{"id":1594,"date":"2026-07-25T22:10:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1594"},"modified":"2026-07-25T22:10:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:10:33","slug":"a-brief-exchange-that-shows-the-enormous-difference-between-trump-and-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1594","title":{"rendered":"A Brief Exchange That Shows the Enormous Difference Between Trump and Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Suavity is a sorely missed ingredient in the American presidency. The effortless charm of a Roosevelt or a Reagan, a Bush or a Clinton, projected a particular brand of power. Suave<\/em> means a kind of athletic ease and self-command in difficult, spotlighted circumstances, the assurance that solutions are at hand if only we all hold our composure and act right-headedly. Here was the ultra-suave Barack Obama\u2019s message to the basketball player Caitlin Clark in a small but noteworthy exchange over the WNBA All-Star weekend: It never hurts to be winsome. In fact, it can help you win.<\/p>\n

Read more The Mounting Cost of War<\/a><\/p>\n

Can you imagine Donald Trump in the same situation, what he\u2019d have done or said, the race-baiting and appeal to baseness? As if Trump would even deign to meet a WNBA player, that is. He prefers to use the league\u2019s players from afar for his own purposes. His White House has made the WNBA a flash point for attacks on transgender athletes, and he and his hard-right allies have tried to make Clark out to be a victim of racial violence on the court. Congressional conservatives even called for the federal government to investigate the WNBA for civil-rights violations because of players fouling her. Here is how Trump used another young woman he views as an adversary, the CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, at the rescheduled White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner yesterday, while Obama was visiting WNBA players in Chicago: After Collins received an award for \u201cexcellence under deadline pressure,\u201d Trump barked from the podium that it was a \u201cfake\u201d prize, that she didn\u2019t deserve it, and then he went to some lengths to demean her. Not suave. Not winning.<\/p>\n

The WNBA has been difficult to watch at times this season, so rife with racial tensions, toxic fan behavior, and carping over officiating that it seems a microcosm of a country in crisis over dirty play in seemingly every societal arena. Much ill will has swirled around Clark, the superstar 24-year-old guard for the Indiana Fever, who can be either mesmerizing to watch or tiresome, depending on how aggrieved she feels on the day. Clark has complained that she is intentionally targeted with hard fouls\u2014and sometimes she is, but not because she\u2019s white. Mauling is the guaranteed, time-honored way to stop an otherwise insuperable player. Clark is the fastest in league history to hit 200 three-pointers, the first to ever score 45 points with 11 assists in a game, and such a head-clutchingly great passer that she can make defenses look like they\u2019re lost. And Clark\u2019s got a plenty hard edge of her own. She can jaw so vociferously at referees that she\u2019s gotten seven technical fouls this season, one away from a suspension.<\/p>\n

That has done nothing to help calm matters in a league whose product is being torn apart by internal resentments and external malignity. In mid-June, when Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury was suspended for a game for hitting Clark in the throat\u2014inadvertently, according to Thomas\u2014she received death threats, was subjected to racial slurs, and inspired those bad-faith congressional demands for an investigation. \u201cNow we\u2019re being painted as thugs,\u201d Thomas told reporters. In mid-July, Chelsea Gray of the Las Vegas Aces, who is almost as superb a player as Clark, received a vile message after her team lost to the Fever. Gray decided to post it on social media so everyone could see what Black players can deal with when they go against the league\u2019s white darling. You<\/span> s* a** ugly a**<\/span> read a message that also called her the N-word. Gray wrote on her post, \u201cPeople act like we just make this s* up.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the backstory when Obama surprised the WNBA All-Stars players by walking in on them during practice for tonight\u2019s game. They were milling around an indoor court at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center on Chicago\u2019s South Side when the man with his name on the building sauntered across the floor in jeans and a white broadcloth shirt to welcome them\u2014and to gently remind them of certain truths: It has taken 30 years of effort by underpaid and unsung athletes for the league to finally arrive as a popular mass spectacle, and no matter what team the players are on, they\u2019re all in that endeavor together. The WNBA\u2019s growing commercial success is based in its relatability and affordability compared with men\u2019s pro leagues, but also in the audience\u2019s sense that it is watching not just a game but the slow triumph of women gaining power for themselves. \u201cPeople paying attention to your excellence, I think, has been something, for basketball fans generally, a sight to see,\u201d Obama told them.<\/p>\n

Read more Public Health Needs MAHA<\/a><\/p>\n

The former president took pains to make clear that he\u2019s a genuine follower of the league. He made small remarks to various players about their seasons as he posed for photos. Then Obama spotted Clark. \u201cOh hey!\u201d he said. \u201cCaitlin! You\u2019re great!\u201d He leaned in closer, to deliver a more personal message, picked up by a hot mic. \u201cDon\u2019t let all this nonsense get you down,\u201d he told her. \u201cI always say one of the things that was luckiest for me was that I didn\u2019t get famous \u2019til I was like 45. So I was an old-ass man. I mean, you\u2019re my daughter\u2019s age. And to have that much burden and, you know, nonsense. So don\u2019t lose that joy. The game\u2019s, like, the game. And you\u2019re a hooper. And you hoop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI try\u2014sometimes,\u201d she said shyly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always<\/em> hooping,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you\u2019re on a nice little run right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a sweetness in the moment, a subtle teaching. In the nicest way, Obama shored Clark up, but also reminded her that she is a greater player and public figure when she just plays the game, accepts the inevitable bad calls and frustrations, and doesn\u2019t let the web-brewed poisons into her blood. Left unspoken was the fact that no one has been subject to more unfairness than Black women who can\u2019t buy a call from refs, and don\u2019t get their own signature sneaker deals, either. Obama chose not to corner Clark on that point. Instead, he gave her grace. And perhaps because he did so, she will have more grace with her opponents\u2014and they will, with her.<\/p>\n

Clark is a peerless young player who can be a bit of a brat when she gets batted around. She\u2019s learning. \u201cSometimes, I think, people don\u2019t always realize, like, I\u2019m 23 or 24 years old and I\u2019m trying to navigate a lot of different things while trying to play basketball at the same time,\u201d she told the press after meeting Obama. \u201cSo, it was cool to hear that from him and I think, honestly, it\u2019s probably a good reminder for all of us to treat people with respect, treat people with grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a quietly interesting and complicated encounter, and a heartening reminder of what \u201cpresidential\u201d can look like. Clark already knows how to win. But Obama gave her a lesson in how to be winning.<\/p>\n

Read more When You\u2019ll Know You\u2019re Middle-Aged<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is what a president sounds like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nA Brief Exchange That Shows the Enormous Difference Between Trump and Obama - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Brief Exchange That Shows the Enormous Difference Between Trump and Obama - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is what a president sounds like.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-25T22:10:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"A Brief Exchange That Shows the Enormous Difference Between Trump and Obama\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-25T22:10:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594\"},\"wordCount\":1237,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4c8d64e50b7f4794e60f1bf014b9c969.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1594\",\"name\":\"A Brief Exchange That Shows the Enormous Difference Between Trump and Obama - 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