After three months of relaxation, former President Barack Obama will step back into public life Monday with a speech in his adopted home of Chicago. His first public remarks since the end of his two terms in the White House will come as part of an event with young leaders at the school where he taught constitutional law for several years—the University of Chicago.
Related: Obama re-emerges in Chicago, where roots run deep
Still, one name will loom undeniably large over proceedings—that of the man who succeeded him as president and who will mark his milestone 100th day in the White House in just a matter of days. Donald Trump has taken swipes at his predecessor's policies on areas from climate change to healthcare, and also accused him, without evidence, of wiretapping his phones during last year's election campaign. Yet Obama has yet to directly confront the current president.
Thus far Obama's comments have been largely limited to a defense of the Affordable Care Act in the midst of Republicans' thus far doomed efforts to repeal and replace it. Thus, many will be eagerly watching his speech Monday, which is scheduled to begin at noon EST and can be watched via a live stream below, for any remarks challenging Trump or his policies.
Those people may be largely disappointed. In front of 300 students from universities in the Chicago area, Trump will take the stage with six students for what his office has described as a "conversation on community organizing and civic engagement" and a "part of President Obama's post-presidency goal to encourage and support the next generation of leaders driven by strengthening communities around the country and the world."
He will, though, take questions as part of a dialogue with the group, making it difficult to imagine that his comments will not at least touch on policy areas that, intended or not, will be taken as a criticism of Trump.
Since bidding farewell to the presidency, Obama has been vacationing on islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific as well as penning his memoir and continuing to plan for his presidential library in Chicago.
Obama reportedly arrived in Chicago Sunday, when he took part in a roundtable discussion with young men from the Chicago Create Real Economic Destiny organization. And his remarks at the University of Chicago Monday will be far from the end of his appearances.
Next month he will receive the "Profile in Courage" award from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston before traveling to Europe to deliver a speech alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. The appearance on May 25 will coincide with Trump's first trip abroad, when he is due in Brussels for a meeting with NATO leaders.
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