White House sources tell me the shock was real today when President Obama was chosen for the Nobel Peace Prize.
No one was ready, instead focused on some upcoming battles on Afghanistan and health care, and staffers were preparing for Obama’s planned speech this afternoon on financial regulatory reform.
Still, the team is playing catch up – they haven’t even updated the White House blog yet, though the Barack Obama Twitter feed offered the one-word reaction above.
Robert Gibbs said Obama was “very surprised” and said that when he called the president with the news, “I believe he was asleep.”
Gibbs also said he was alerted even earlier in the morning with calls from the situation room and reporters seeking comment.
Obama didn’t even know he was nominated, Gibbs said. The nominations are kept secret unless those who put forth the name make it public.
“Even if someone told the president, he wouldn’t have put much stock in it. Which is to say, this was a total surprise,” an administration official told TPMDC.
Among the remaining questions – what will Obama do with the $1.4 million in prize money? White House aides tell me they will offer a readout of this later today. They also haven’t made public whether Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award.
Obama himself tried to make light of the unexpected award in his remarks earlier:
“Well, this is not how I expected to wake up this morning.
After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, ‘Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo’s birthday.’
And then Sasha added, ‘Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.’
So it’s — it’s good to have kids to keep things in perspective.”
Late update: ABC’s George Stephanopoulos had a funny anecdote along these same lines today:
Two key White House aides were both convinced they were being punked when they heard the news, reported ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
“It’s not April 1, is it?” one said.
Upon being called by ABC News at 5:45 ET this morning, a White House aide said, “This better be good.”
When told by ABC News that the president had won the Nobel Peace Prize, the aide replied: “Oh, that is good.”
