Barack Obama and family join Clooneys on boat trip while staying at Hollywood star’s £26million Italian mansion – but face a plumbing disaster on arrival
BARACK and Michelle Obama got a frosty reception when they arrived at George Clooney’s Italian mansion after a plumbing disaster left the actor’s pool freezing.
The former first couple joined the Ocean’s Eleven star and his lawyer wife Amal at their £26 million Lake Como hideaway yesterday.
President Obama and his wife are having a European holiday this summer as they continue to settle into life outside the White House.
The Obamas and the Clooneys were likely off to attend a charity dinner for the latter’s foundation, according to Hollywood Life.
The Clooney Foundation for Justice raises money for marginalised communities suffering human rights abuses.
But all was not roses for the A-list couple’s on their joint getaway after plumbing problems plagued the pool.
The Obamas landed in a private jet in Milan, fresh from a visit to Bono's house in the south of France, and drove to Lake Como in an armoured car motorcade with a separate van for luggage, six police cars, and a helicopter overhead.
Just before the VIPs arrived, George noticed the pool was half full and the water was ice cold.
The Catch 22 star asked his bodyguard Giovanni to call Dante Pennè, the local Lake Como plumber to sort out the problem.
Pennè told the newspaper that when he arrived at the Clooney home, things were out of hand.
He said: “What a race, I arrive and they are all upset. Giovanni says to me: hurry up, hurry up!”
Pennè said he was able to sort out the thermometer and drain within a few minutes, to the delight of his Hollywood employer.
Barack and Michelle were also joined by their daughters, Malia, 20, and 18-year-old Sasha on their trip.
The Obamas and the Clooneys have been close ever since Barack took the White House in 2008.
The former ER star is an ardent Democrat and was one of Obama’s highest profile supporters during his two terms in office.
Clooney hosted a record breaking fundraising dinner for the then President in 2012 during his re-election campaign at one of his other mansions in Los Angeles.
At the event about 150 guests, including Barbra Streisand, Tobey Maguire and Jack Black, raised nearly £10 million for the Obama war chest.
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
Clooney supported John Kerry for President in 2004; Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and Hilary Clinton in 2016.
But despite his clear interest in politics the actor ruled out ever running for office earlier this year saying in May: "I am not going to get into politics. It doesn't seem like a very logical place for me to be able to apply what skills I have.
“I don't have to make compromises for the things that I stand for and the things I believe in like politicians do. So it is not something that interests me.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.