Obamas Welcome Trick-Or-Treaters, Dance To ‘Thriller’

VPM | By Amita Kelly

Published November 1, 2016 at 1:14 AM EDT

Updated April 20, 2023

Obamas Welcome Trick-Or-Treaters, Dance To ‘Thriller’

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcomed Washington-area children and children of military families to trick-or-treat at the White House Monday night. The outside was decorated in an Alice in Wonderland theme, complete with giant teacups and rabbits.

ap 16305712597306 009ef6336b1de465ad0bba9ccf3561aead39c8c3 — Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

The Obamas brought out their spooky side, dancing to “Thriller”:

ap 597073636905 wide dbf5eff10af1f2a874c8f9d4f8728c4b2927e83f — Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Here’s the video:

There was baby Barack:

Tiny dinosaurs and pirates:

gettyimages 619580222 6c3632bc011d7feae65bb92e193688565a0c79f9 — White House Pool / Getty Images

And performers:

ap 691397507822a 0b46dc580436a964fd89a670d6355a52090c84e2 — Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Inside, some unwanted guests in the press briefing room (we knew Scott Horsley spent a lot of time in there but that much?):

gettyimages 495087116 wide 01935f37cfd96bfd1fae56f6014ed9f6ab3040cf — Yuri Gripas / AFP/Getty Images

But no White House trick-or-treating story would be complete without a throwback to last year, when President Obama lost it over the baby Pope.

gettyimages 495004304 881a4150f4007624edd4a9f8486232195553918f — Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images

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Amita Kelly

Amita Kelly is a Washington editor, where she works across beats and platforms to edit election, politics and policy news and features stories.

Previously, she was a digital editor on NPR's National and Washington Desks, where she coordinated and edited coverage for NPR.org as well as social media and audience engagement. She was also an editor and producer for NPR's newsmagazine program Tell Me More, where she covered health, politics, parenting and, once, how Korea celebrates St. Patrick's Day.

Kelly has also worked at Kaiser Health News and NBC News. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she earned her M.A., and earned a B.A. in English from Wellesley College. She is a native of Southern California, where even Santa surfs.

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