“Go on, try Nicolas”:
“Well…..no. Here – I’ll make you laugh: Bunny Rabbit!:
“See?! I knew you could do it!”:
“Barack? You’re a miracle worker!”
“Thanks Angela!”:
24 hours later: “Hey, look at my Obama smile!”:
(….with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Lisbon)
…..well, apart from:
3:30 am: The President attends the meeting on Afghanistan opening session
3:40 am: The President attends the meeting on Afghanistan working session
7:45 am: The President attends the NAC working session
9:00 am: The President attends the NATO Russian Council meeting opening session
9:10 am: The President attends the NATO Russian Council meeting working session
10:40 am: The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Karzai of Afghanistan
11:30 am: The President holds a press conference
12:25 pm: The President participates in the EU/US Summit official photo
12:30 pm: The President participates in the EU/US Summit
2:00 pm: The President delivers a statement to the press with EU Commission President José Barroso and European Council President Herman van Rompuy
2:45 pm: The President departs Lisbon, Portugal en route Washington, DC
10:25 pm: The President arrives at Andrews Air Force Base
10:40 pm: The President arrives at the White House
(all times US ET)
President Barack Obama listens to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and United Kingdom’s Prime Minister David Cameron after posing for a family picture after the NAC (North Atlantic Council) meeting on November 19 in Lisbon
President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend the NAC (North Atlantic Council) meeting, on November 19 in Lisbon
New York Times: There was supposed to be a bipartisan summit at the White House on Thursday, but only the Democrats showed up. The Republican leadership of the House and Senate somehow couldn’t find any time in their schedules to meet with the president of the United States. If this is what cooperation and mutual respect is going to look like over the next two years, then settle in for more trench warfare and far less progress.
It has been more than two weeks since President Obama issued a postelection invitation for Congressional leaders to join him for dinner on Nov. 18 to discuss “how we can move the American people’s agenda forward.” Republicans left him hanging, refusing to commit to a date even as the office of Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said he was encouraged that the president wanted to discuss areas of agreement.
On Wednesday, the Republicans, led by Mr. McConnell, said they just didn’t have the time. They had discovered there was so much to do — new members to welcome and lots of other unspecified details. Besides, they said, the president should have asked for a mutually agreeable date instead of just inviting them. So the meeting was pushed back until Nov. 30.
As the Republicans know, that means less time to work out important compromises in the remaining lame-duck session on crucial issues like taxes, the nuclear arms treaty with Russia and extending unemployment insurance. So far, in fact, there has been zero interest in actual compromise on any of those issues, despite extended hands from the White House. On Thursday, House Republicans blocked a bill that would extend long-term unemployment insurance past the holidays.
Beyond the practical implications of this rudeness, there is an increasingly obvious lack of respect for the president and the presidency, with Republicans interpreting their electoral victory as a mandate to act with hubris. Steny Hoyer, the outgoing House majority leader, noted Thursday that he couldn’t remember a single instance when Democrats did not change their schedule to accommodate a request to meet with President George W. Bush. Mr. McConnell has already made it clear that defeating Mr. Obama is more important than negotiating on legislation. Apparently, that also goes for snubbing Mr. Obama.
President Barack Obama gives an “okay” gesture to the translation booth during a joint statement with Portugal’s Prime Minister Jose Socrates at the NATO summit in Lisbon
President Barack Obama listens to the American national anthem next to Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva during the arrival ceremony at the Belem National Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
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The Obama Diary 
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