Mark Leibovich: “No matter how brazen Trump becomes, the most effective communicator in the Democratic Party continues to opt for minimal communication. His ‘audacity of hope’ presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement.”

President Trump took shots at former President Barack Obama’s Presidential Center in Chicago, calling it “a disaster” and blaming “woke” construction workers, CBS News reports.

The former first lady said on a podcast that people “couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” the New York Times reports.

Barack Obama called on universities and law firms to stand up to intimidation from President Donald Trump’s administration and urged Americans to prepare to “possibly sacrifice” in support of democratic values, the Washington Post reports.

Barack Obama called out divisiveness and polarization as “one of the greatest challenges of our time,” as he avoided any specific political references in his first public remarks since the election, Politico reports.

Obama didn’t utter the names of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris and stayed away from politics.

Barack Obama put out his summer reading list and playlist.

Marian Robinson, the mother of former first lady Michelle Obama, has died, the family said in a statement Friday.

She was 86.

Former president Barack Obama told David Axelrod that the rise of Donald Trump was related to the fears of having the first African-American president.

Said Obama: “I think it’s fair to say that something like the Tea Party does not get the traction, generate the heat that it does had it not been for the fact that I represented something that looked like something very foreign to some people and scary.”

He added: “I think if you tracked Fox News coverage all the way up through Tucker Carlson talking about, white people are all being replaced and that Democrats are deliberately trying to bring in illegal immigrants and then give them voting rights and welfare checks to buy them off and build a Democratic majority. I think that argument probably gets less traction if it wasn’t me who was president at the time.”

“Former first lady Michelle Obama, who campaigned for children’s health and fitness during her time in the White House, is co-founding a company selling food and drinks intended to be healthier for kids than what is typically on store shelves,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Michelle Obama broke down shortly after leaving then-President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the former first lady candidly shared in a new podcast, as the emotions of leaving their family’s home after eight years and resentment over Trump taking office overwhelmed her,” CNN reports.

Said Obama: “When those doors shut, I cried for 30 minutes straight, uncontrollable sobbing, because that’s how much we were holding it together for eight years.”

Michelle Obama writes in her new book that she “overcame a teleprompter mishap during her first major live televised speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention,” Insider reports.

Write Obama: “I was standing there on live television, knowing I was supposed to speak for 16 minutes straight. There was no pausing the show or calling for help. For a second, I felt wildly alone — and also wildly exposed.”

“Luckily, Obama was prepared. She had spent weeks rehearsing the speech until she had it completely memorized.”

Michelle Obama told the BBC that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election win “still hurts” and even made her question her husband’s legacy.

Said Obama: “When I’m in my darkest moment, right, my most irrational place, I could say: ‘Well maybe not, maybe we weren’t good enough.’”

“A noose was found at the construction site of the new Obama Presidential Center in Chicago — a startling discovery that caused construction to pause on former President Barack Obama’s $830-million legacy project,” USA Today reports.