The eldest daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama, Malia Obama, has had her personal life scrutinized by the press ever since she and her sister, Sasha Obama, were teenagers. Despite her efforts to keep a low profile, the public’s fascination with her love life has only grown steadily over the years — especially whenever she’s seen out with someone new. Her first known relationship was with a fellow Harvard student named Rory Farquharson, whom she reportedly dated for several years. Malia was also romantically linked to music producer Dawit Eklund after multiple sightings of the pair together, as well as rap artist Aminé and journalist Achilleas Ambatzidis, with whom she had been spotted on a lunch date in the fall of 2024.

Advertisement

At the time of this writing, it appears Malia is single (and may or may not be ready to mingle) after being spotted spending Valentine’s Day 2025 with her pals instead of a date. Photos published by Hola! magazine show the former first daughter strolling with her guy friends while on their way to a group dinner in Los Angeles. She wore a white sheer top with a scarf around her neck and black jeans that clung tightly to her hips. She styled her hair in braids and completed her winter ensemble with a cardigan and black boots. The sighting came shortly after Malia joined her couple friends, Ames and Ruby, on a V-Day dinner just a few days earlier — seemingly confirming what many had suspected about her love life: that she was likely single and not seeing anyone at the moment.

Advertisement

For the most part, Malia Obama has done a good job of keeping her love life private, but her dating history seems to be even wilder than we imagined, based on a surprising detail shared by her mother, Michelle Obama. During a chat with former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth on her “IMO” podcast, the former first lady hinted that her daughters may have a thing for bad boys while sharing the love advice she gave them. “You can’t tell your kids anything, but there’ve been some guys in my daughters’ lives that I’ve been like, ‘Don’t sleep on him.’ You know … the nice ones, right?” Michelle said. She then lamented, “What is it about the nice ones that there’s an age where you just want something bad, right? You just want something all wrong.”

Advertisement

Regardless, Michelle thinks it’s great that her daughters are now at a point in their lives where they’re meeting lots of new people and learning what works for them. Whereas Malia is seemingly single at the time of this writing, her sister Sasha has been dating Clifton Powell’s namesake son, Clifton Powell Jr., since 2022. And according to Michelle, even Barack Obama approves of their daughters dating around at this age. “He’s learned how to be a concerned Black father, but not crazy,” she told Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” (via ABC News).

However, Michelle confessed in her 2022 memoir “The Light We Carry” that she doesn’t want her daughters to make haste to get married. After all, they still have plenty of time to figure out what they want in life. “I’m hoping our daughters won’t rush out of the flea market too quickly. I hope they will instead linger a while, allowing their relationships to remain fluid and youthful,” she penned. 

Advertisement