All The Boys Malia Obama Has Dated

Barack Obama didn't just lead the country from 2009 to 2016, but he also tackled the challenging task of raising two teenage daughters. It's no secret that Malia and Sasha Obama made a head-turning transformation while in the White House, but their coming of age likely wasn't as fun as you might expect. Like all other presidential kids, they had specific rules to follow, and to make matters worse, they really couldn't stand all the fame. 

Malia, especially, who is three years older than Sasha, had to spend most of her teenage years in the White House. This meant if she wanted to go on a date or hang out with a friend, it would have to be run up the flagpole, approved, scheduled, and chaperoned to some degree. It's no wonder that when asked about handling his daughters' dating lives in 2016, Obama told Raleigh radio station WDCG, per ABC 11: "The truth is, I'm pretty relaxed about it for two reasons." He cited role model wife Michelle Obama as his first reason. "[Michelle's] such a great example of how she carries herself, [with] her self-esteem not depending on boys to validate how you look or not letting yourself be judged by anything other than your character and intelligence." But his second reason, which was likely really why he was so calm, was the Secret Service.

When the Obamas left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Malia and Sasha experienced freedom like they never had before. Just months after shedding her first daughter title, Malia was spotted locking lips with a man, who was later revealed as her first serious boyfriend. But he wouldn't be the last guy to take her out. Keep reading for a list of all the boys lucky enough to date Malia Obama.

In 2015, Malia Obama and the Secret Service seemingly had a great time at her high school prom. And hopefully, so did Malia's date, who we hope wasn't too intimidated by the fact that he had a federal law enforcement agency monitoring his every move. The boy's identity has never been revealed, but as Michelle Obama wrote in her memoir "Becoming" (via Today) this brave fellow was "a boy [Malia] kind of liked." 

The young gentleman arrived at the White House in his car, passed through security, and waited in the Diplomatic Reception Room for the lovely Malia and her parents, the president and first lady of the United States. Fortunately, the run-of-the-mill prom meet-and-greet went as planned, and he was allowed to drive Malia in his car to a restaurant and then to the dance. This was actually very generous of the Obamas to allow as Malia usually wasn't allowed in a vehicle that didn't belong to the family. Of course, as Michelle explained, her date was advised that their security details would "basically ride [his] bumper all the way to the restaurant they were going for dinner before the dance." 

It's unclear if Malia and this boy ever had a relationship, but given all the hoops they had to jump through just for one night out together at a school function, it probably would have been hard for them to have a normal teenage romance.

After leaving the White House and shipping off to Harvard, Malia Obama made a stunning transformation from former first daughter to college freshman with a cute British boyfriend. A few months into her first semester, Malia was photographed kissing a boy at a Harvard football game, who was later identified as classmate Rory Farquharson. Hailing from Britain, he came from an affluent family and attended one of the U.K'.s most prestigious private schools, the Rugby School.

Obama and Farquharson dated for a few years, but kept their relationship pretty private. They were photographed a few times together in places like New York, New Haven, and across the pond in London. And in 2020, as shelter orders were put in place, Farquharson stayed with the Obamas as he was unable to travel back to the U.K. "I didn't want to like him, but he's a good kid," the former president said during a December 2020 appearance on "The Bill Simmons Podcast." However, there was one thing about Farquharson that Barack wasn't too thrilled about: his insatiable appetite. "The only thing you discover ... young men eat. It's weird to watch them consume food. My grocery bill went up about 30 percent," he said.

It was during Malia's relationship with Farquharson, who smoked cigarettes, that she seemingly started smoking as well, after previously inspiring her father to quit smoking himself. It's unclear what happened between Malia and Farquharson, but by the summer of 2022, she was spotted hanging out with other guys, signaling that she and Farquharson were over.

After graduating from Harvard in 2021, Malia Obama, who was later joined by her sister, Sasha Obama, moved to Los Angeles to pursue work in the film industry. It was during this new chapter of Malia's life that things seemingly fizzled out between her and Rory Farquharson, and she began seeing other men. Starting in July 2022, she was spotted multiple times with music producer Dawit Eklund. In true Malia fashion, their relationship was kept pretty tight-lipped, but there was one thing that Malia couldn't mask: the massive age gap between her Eklund, who was nine years older than her.

Eklund, who is originally from Ethiopia, has some impressive achievements to note. He is a co-founder of a record label in Washington D.C. called 1432 R. As for his family life, he has four siblings. One of Eklund's sisters, Sara, was featured in Vogue in 2019 for her work in making menstrual cups available in Ethiopia. Furthermore, a similarity between Malia and her former beau was that Eklund's father previously worked for the U.S. government.

It's unclear how long Malia Obama and Dawit Eklund were an item, but reports of them being spotted together halted by the end of 2022. And by the fall of 2023, Malia was seemingly auditioning a new man to play the role of her next boyfriend: rapper Aminé. She and the "Caroline" musician were photographed enjoying a sushi date in September of that year, and the fact that she interlocked her arm with his seems to prove they were possibly more than friends. While this was their only sighting captured by the paparazzi, that doesn't necessarily mean this was the only time they saw each other. 

In fact, Malia and Aminé apparently go way back. In a 2017 interview with i-D, he recalled previously meeting her after a performance. "I came offstage and a Lollapalooza security guard came up and said, 'Malia Obama would like to speak to you.' She was a super-normal, cool, regular American teen," he told the outlet (via Hollywood Life). Other than Malia, Aminé was also romantically linked to Kehlani, who he collaborated with on the song "Heebiejeebies."

In September 2024, Malia Obama shared a meal in Los Angeles with a man who was identified as Achilleas Ambatzidis, a Greek journalist and photographer. Per the paparazzi photos, they were both all smiles after their meal, but their body language as they left together suggested they weren't romantically involved. Malia wasn't publicly seen with Ambatzidis again after that outing, quieting down any speculation that they courting each other. And in February 2025, five months after she and Ambatzidis were pictured together, she stepped out on Valentine's Day with her friends, seemingly confirming that she wasn't attached to anybody — including Ambatzidis.

While Malia's last few romantic encounters don't seem like they were very serious, Michelle Obama likely approves of her eldest daughter's romantic activity. In her 2022 memoir, "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times," Michelle admitted that she didn't want her girls saying "I do" too soon. "Malia and Sasha have been doing precisely what Barack [Obama] and I were each doing at their age, which is dating around," she wrote (via OK!). "The truth is that 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," the former first lady continued.