President Barack Obama kept tabs on events in Texas and Iraq on Monday as he spent the 10th day of his annual Hawaiian vacation in the gym and on the links.
The president got an early start, departing the first family’s rented Kailua vacation compound shortly after
7 a.m. for a 90-minute workout at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Afterward, Obama received an update on the progress of the Iraqi Security Forces in retaking Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
A White House statement praised the Iraqi forces for their “courage and determination” and reiterated the United States’ commitment to driving ISIL from the city, which it conquered in May.
“The United States and the broader coalition have supported the Ramadi operation with more than 630 air strikes and training and equipment, and we will continue to support our partners fighting against ISIL on the ground until it is defeated,” the statement read.
Obama also called Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott to express his appreciation for Abbott’s leadership in the wake of deadly tornadoes that killed 11 people in Dallas and to offer condolences to the families of those who died.
Following the briefings, the president joined childhood friends Mike Ramos, Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb for a long afternoon of golf at the Mid Pacific Country Club in Kailua.
A small crowd gathered on a public street near the 18th hole, site of Obama’s ballyhooed 40-foot, round-ending putt a week earlier.
Obama couldn’t replicate his heroics on the green this time, but a pool report described a successful chip shot to the edge of the green that set up a two-putt finish.
In the evening, the president and first lady Michelle Obama joined friends for dinner in Honolulu at Alan Wong’s, a perennial Obama vacation stop.