Christmas cards are serious business in the Obama household.
Michelle Obama recently shared that she and her husband, Barack Obama, mail an enormous number of holiday greeting cards each year to the people in their lives. The former first lady made the comment during a guest appearance on the Dec. 15 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
When host Jimmy Kimmel asked how many Christmas cards the family sends, Michelle didn’t hesitate: “You know, we checked. It’s over 100,000.”
The number stunned Kimmel, 58, and drew an audible reaction from the studio audience. Michelle then explained that the total includes a wide circle of recipients.
“But that incorporates friends, family, business people [and] foundation people,” she said. “So it’s a lot of folks that we want to thank.”
The Obamas — Michelle and Barack, 64, along with their daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24 — also mark the season publicly, typically sharing warm holiday messages on social media. Last year, Barack posted a family photo on Instagram, while Michelle shared a post featuring their dog, Sunny.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/michelle-obama-jimmy-kimmel-121825-59806d2bac954a8cb5bd881bd885fb4c.jpg)
Around the same time the family sends out holiday greetings, Barack also puts together his annual year-end lists, spotlighting favorites across movies, television, music, and books. Some of what caught his attention in 2024 included music from Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Billie Eilish, along with films such as Conclave, Anora, and Dune: Part Two.
During the interview, Michelle also said she takes the lead when it comes to Christmas gifting at home.
“Everybody gets a gift, [but] I’m generally the one who is orchestrating it,” she said.
Asked whether Barack gives good presents, Michelle replied, “He does.” But when Kimmel pressed on whether Barack uses a “consultant” for gift ideas, she joked that he relies on Meredith Koop, her stylist.
“You know, he tried for a few years, early on in our lives, and I would open it up like, ‘Oh yeah, you tried,’” she added, laughing.
