Behind the Lens: From Lake Tahoe to Laos

7 min readSep 10, 2016

We just returned from our last trip to Asia, flying more than 20,000 miles on a trip that brought us to Lake Tahoe, Honolulu, Midway Atoll, China and Laos.

On our first day, President Obama spoke on climate change at the 20th anniversary of the annual Lake Tahoe Summit and at the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders and World Conservation Congress in Honolulu.

Then it was on to Midway Atoll in the northwest Hawaiian Islands, part of where the President expanded the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, creating the world’s largest protected marine area.

Then it was on to China where the President had a productive and substantive visit. First, he participated in a ceremony with President Xi of China and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, formally entering the Paris Agreement, the most ambitious climate change agreement in history. Then in addition to bilateral meetings with President Xi, the President also joined world leaders in the annual G20 Summit. While there, the President also met individually with several important heads of state.

From China, we traveled to Vientiane, Laos for a historic official state visit: President Obama became the first U.S. president to visit the Southeast Asian nation. There, he participated in the ASEAN and East Asia Summits. In addition, the President visited COPE, the Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, to pay tribute to victims of U.S. bombings during the “secret war” in Laos. We also traveled one day to Luang Prabang where the President toured Wat Xieng Thong, a Buddhist temple, made a stop at a neighborhood by the Mekong River, and participated in a YSEALI town hall.

I’ve selected a gallery of photos from each of our stops that will hopefully give people an insight to the President’s activities throughout the trip.

— Pete Souza, Chief White House Photographer