EXCLUSIVE: MICHELLE WALKS OUT AS OBAMA DIVORCE BATTLE EXPLODES!
By Steve Herz, NATIONAL ENQUIRERApril 3, 2014 | 5:40am EDT
Full Size Image IN a major behind-the-scenes blowout, President BARACK OBAMA and first lady MICHELLE waged their worst White House fight ever over her lavish vacation trip to China!
Sources tell The ENQUIRER that Obama exploded when Michelle refused to cancel her pricey getaway - even after White House advisers warned him that the first couple's six-year string of extravagant vacations had already drained the U.S. Treasury of a whopping $150 million in taxpayers' money.
Instead of postponing her trip, a furious Michelle - still seething over the embarrassing "selfie" Barack recently snapped with a leggy blonde head of state - announced that she was taking her mother along for company.
She further declared that she didn't want reporters covering her activities overseas.
"This was a blowout of epic proportions - probably the nastiest White House fight they've ever had," a Washington, D.C., insider told The ENQUIRER.
"They were both screaming at one another.
"The president was infuriated when advisers told him that they'd added up the costs of all their 'vacations' and China was putting them over the $150 million mark.
"But he's defenseless to stop Michelle because their marriage has collapsed. She's doing what she wants - and that's seeing the world on the American taxpayers' dime."
The embattled commander in chief flat-out begged his wife of 21 years to postpone the trip, according to a family insider.
"But she refused," said the source.
"Then, when Barack asked why she had to take her mother along, Michelle ripped into him. She screamed that he was 'lucky' that she hadn't left him after that embarrassing 'selfie,' and then she stormed off."
Michelle arrived in Beijing with her mother, Marian Robinson, and the Obamas' daughters, 15-year-old Malia and Sasha, 12, on March 20 for a planned seven-day, three-city trip.
They checked into the lavish presidential suite at the Beijing Westin hotel, costing a whopping $8,350 per night. The 3,400-square-foot suite included 24-hour butler service and a steam room.
One published report quoted hotel employees grumbling about Michelle's mom "barking at the staff " and added that the first lady's party was "inconveniencing pretty much everyone."
And it quickly became clear that Michelle had apparently won the battle to avoid media scrutiny.
While she was scheduled to deliver a speech to students at Peking University, "The Weekly Standard" reported that "she won't be accompanied by the press" because "she does not plan to give interviews."
As a result, the White House went into spin control, noted the D.C. insider.
"They're defending Michelle's trip by calling it 'a people-to-people exchange' and emphasizing 'the importance that both nations place on education,'" said the source. "But the fact is Michelle specifically demanded that reporters not follow her every move."
Media were granted access to only two of the 22 events on the first lady's schedule, and sources say Michelle's media ban hid her secret agenda to split from the president.
Besides being humiliated by the president's "selfie" photo with the sexy Danish prime minister at Nelson Mandela's memorial service last December, sources say Michelle was further outraged when she learned the Secret Service had been covering up the president's cheating.
The first lady has already met with divorce lawyers and is planning a separate life after her husband leaves the White House.
"Obama's advisers told him he must try and keep Michelle 'under control' until then," divulged the D.C. insider.
"They explained that if Michelle walked out while he was still in office, the impact on his presidential legacy would be catastrophic."
And Michelle isn't doing him any favors by traveling like a queen.
Besides the family's annual August vacation on ritzy Martha's Vineyard and Christmas holiday in Hawaii, Michelle jetted off to Mexico and Spain in 2010, and kicked up her heels at a posh ski resort in Vail, Colo., in 2011.
In March 2011, she spent five days in Latin America with her mother and daughters. Three months later, they were joined by Michelle's niece and nephew for a safari in South Africa.
In June 2013, the first lady spent two days in Ireland. That trip required booking 30 rooms at an exclusive hotel for her staff and security detail, costing taxpayers a reported $5 million.
According to one published report: "The president's pricey travels have become so controversial that 'Judicial Watch' was forced to sue the Secret Service and Defense Department to get them to turn over records on the amount of taxpayer money used to fly the first family all over the world..."
But Michelle couldn't care less, said the D.C. insider.
"It's clear to everyone at the White House that Barack has completely lost control of his wife," said the source.
"Michelle does whatever she wants and goes wherever she wants. It's as if she's tacked up a map of the world and put pins on all the places she wants to visit. The sad part is that taxpayers are paying for her bucket list."
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