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With all due respect, that’s one hunky husband you’ve got there, FLOTUS.

President Barack Obama and his glorious First Smile cover GQ magazine’s “Men of the Year” issue, a fitting honor for the Leader of the Free World. He’s always been the man, but we’ve all noticed the boost in POTUS’ confidence throughout this final year in his presidency – and he admits, he’s definitely loosened up since being inaugurated as the 44th President back in ’09.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the Prez gives good interview. There doesn’t seem to be any rehearsed answers during his sit-down with sports columnist Bill Simmons, just sincere discussion. The guys chat about basketball, Malia Obama‘s dating life, funny conspiracy theories, POTUS’ bad habits and guilty pleasures, and more.

President Obama reveals he isn’t worried about household roles reversing following his departure from the White House. “I’m okay with her making a whole lot of money. There’s nothing wrong with that,” he says at the prospect of wife Michelle Obama getting her own billion-dollar daytime talk show when her First Lady duties are over.

The Prez was a suave dude from the start of it all, but in the final stretch, he’s definitely let his hair down a little – and his enhanced cool is refreshing.

Here are a few must-read excerpts from the article:

Bill Simmons: Was there a point in those first three years where you started to feel overwhelmed by the job? Where you were just like, “My God, I just had no idea this was going to be this hard!”

I had a pretty good handle. One thing I learned during the campaign was that I’ve got a good temperament. I don’t get too high and I don’t get too low. I’m able to stay focused even when there’s a lot of stuff going on around me.

Has anyone come to the White House and picked up your older daughter for a date?

No, but I’ve seen some folks glancing at her in ways that made me not happy.

What’s the most entertaining conspiracy theory you ever read about yourself?

That military exercises we were doing in Texas were designed to begin martial law so that I could usurp the Constitution and stay in power longer. Anybody who thinks I could get away with telling Michelle I’m going to be President any longer than eight years does not know my wife.

When Ferguson happened last year, I was waiting for Obama the Person to come in. But you had to be President Obama. How you handled Charleston this year and Selma—that was Obama the Person. So what happened with Ferguson? Do you wish you had handled that differently?

You know, the challenge of Ferguson and all issues related to police shootings, race, and the criminal-justice system is that in order to actually get something done, you have to build consensus. Expressing simple outrage without follow-up is often counterproductive. In the case of Ferguson, I’m the attorney general’s boss. If I chime in with a strong opinion about what’s happened, not only do I stand to potentially damage subsequent law-enforcement cases, but immediately you get blowback and backlash that may make people less open to listening. What was different in Charleston was the clarity of what happened—that allowed, I think, everybody to be open to it.

Number of cigarettes you’ve smoked in the White House since you got here?

Zero in the last five years. I made a promise that once health care passed, I would never have a cigarette again. And I have not.

If you were campaigning against Donald Trump, would you even bother? Would it be like LaBradford Smith talking trash to Jordan or something?

I would’ve enjoyed campaigning against Trump. That would’ve been fun.

Obama would’ve trumped Trump, no doubt. Read his interview in full here.

SOURCE: GQ | PHOTO CREDIT: GQ, Instagram, Getty

President Obama Covers GQ’s “Men Of The Year” Issue, Gets Candid About Ferguson, Malia’s Social Life, & More  was originally published on globalgrind.com