Page 3 - Aruba Today
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U.S. NEWS A3
Monday 15 February 2016
Obama uses California’s Sunnylands as Western White House
mit with Xi Jinping, who only ands is reminiscent of how nenberg, the late philan-
months earlier had been then-President George W. thropists who built Sunnyl-
installed as China’s newest Bush used his Texas ranch ands, long hoped the prop-
leader. China will not be while he was in office. erty they used as a winter
represented at Sunnylands The former president took home would become the
because it is not a member advantage of the ranch’s “Camp David of the West.”
of ASEAN. informal setting and regu- Annenberg was a diplomat
Obama returned to Sun- larly invited foreign coun- who entertained royalty,
nylands in February 2014 terparts to Crawford for presidents and celebrities
to meet with King Abdullah talks. Bush spent so much at Sunnylands. He and his
II of Jordan, an important time in central Texas that wife willed the property to
Middle Eastern ally. the ranch was dubbed the a family trust in hopes that
Rhodes said the gathering “Western White House.” presidents and other high-
of Southeast Asian lead- Bush added an even more ranking U.S. government of-
ers would be another “no- personal touch by driving ficials would use it to foster
tie” summit, like Obama’s some of the leaders around international diplomacy,
meetings with Xi and the sprawling property in said Janice Lyle, director
Abdullah. his white pickup truck. of the Sunnylands Center &
Obama’s use of Sunnyl- Walter and Leonore An- Gardens.q
President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac from Marine
One before boarding Air Force One at Los Angeles International
Airport, Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Associated Press
DARLENE SUPERVILL pines, Singapore, Thailand,
Associated Press Brunei, Vietnam, Laos,
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. Myanmar and Cambodia
(AP) — The guest list at Sun- will be seeing Sunnylands
nylands reads like a roster for the first time, Obama
of the rich and famous, has increasingly used the
from years past to today: estate’s tranquil setting as
Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, a place to conduct U.S.
Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, foreign policy.
Warren Buffet, Bill Gates An added lure for an avid
and Queen Elizabeth II, to golfer like Obama is Sun-
name a few. nylands’ nine-hole course.
President Barack Obama It’s considered one of the
will add more names to the country’s best.
VIP record Monday when Ben Rhodes, the presi-
he turns the 200-acre Cali- dent’s deputy national se-
fornia desert estate into a curity adviser, said Obama
center of international di- enjoys having more free-
plomacy and welcomes flowing talks with fellow
Southeast Asian leaders for leaders “out of the bubble”
a two-day summit about of Washington.
economic and regional se- Sunnylands “lends itself to
curity issues. kind of a stepped-back,
In years past, Obama has broader strategic set of dis-
flown to the annual summits cussions in a very peaceful
of the Association of South- setting in which the leaders
east Asian Nations. Last can get to know one an-
fall in Malaysia, he invited other and really try to dig
the 10 member countries in over an extended pe-
to meet on U.S. soil for the riod of time in a way that
first time, part of his effort you couldn’t in a one-hour
to sharpen the U.S. policy meeting here at the White
focus on the fast-growing House,” Rhodes said.
Asia-Pacific region. Obama first visited Sunny-
While leaders from Indo- lands in June 2013 for an
nesia, Malaysia, the Philip- unusual but informal sum-
