Why Barack Obama Visited British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London

Barack Obama traveled across the pond to pay a visit to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The former United States president, 62, gave a quick wave as he headed inside the Prime Minister’s office in London to meet with Sunak, 43, on Monday, March 18.

Sunak’s official spokesperson told The Guardian that Obama made “an information courtesy drop-in as part of his trip to London,” where he was visiting for work as part of his Obama Foundation. Obama and Sunak are reportedly discussing a wide range of subjects, including artificial intelligence, per the outlet.

“I think President Obama’s team made contact and obviously the prime minister was very happy to meet with him and discuss the work of the Obama Foundation,” the spokesperson said.

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Shortly after leaving the White House, Barack and his wife, Michelle Obama, announced they were creating their own foundation in January 2017. While Barack explained that the center would be based on the south side of Chicago, he noted that it will facilitate projects “all over the city, the country and the world.”

Barack’s visit to London comes one month after Sunak made headlines for speaking out about King Charles III’s cancer battle.

“Obviously, like everyone else, shocked and sad, and just all our thoughts are with him and his family,” Sunak said during an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live at the time. “Thankfully, this has been caught early.”

Sunak noted that he’s hopeful Charles, 75, will “make a full recovery” after undergoing “the treatment that he needs.” He added, “That’s what we’re all hoping and praying for, and I’m of course in regular contact with him and will continue to communicate with him as normal.”

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Sunak continued, “He’ll be in our thoughts and our prayers, many families around the country listening to this will have been touched by the same thing and they know what it means to everyone. So we’ll just be willing him on and hopefully we can get through this as quickly as possible.”

When Sunak was asked whether his meetings with Charles would continue in-person, he replied, “I’m in regular contact with him as I always am and that will absolutely continue.”

President Joe Biden has also spoken out about Charles’ diagnosis, telling reporters in February that he was “concerned” about the monarch. “Just heard his diagnosis. But I’ll be talking to him, God willing,” Biden, 81, said.

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Biden also took to social media to pray for Charles and the people of the United Kingdom, writing via X, “Navigating a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship takes hope and absolute courage. Jill [Biden] and I join the people of the United Kingdom in praying that His Majesty experiences a swift and full recovery.”

Buckingham Palace announced in January that the King would undergo a “corrective procedure” for an enlarged prostate. During his hospital visit, Charles’ doctors found “a separate issue of concern,” per the palace, which was identified as a “form of cancer.”

In February, royal reporter Omid Scobie shared that Charles’ diagnosis was not prostate cancer, but the family has yet to publicly address what type of cancer or what stage it is.