Christmas shopping is a puzzle for Barack Obama too

WASHINGTON - Running America, President Barack Obama can do. But finding a gift for his wife Michelle is a tough one.

"She's very fashionable and she looks good. I'm worried about buying her clothes," the president said Monday on the radio show "On Air With Ryan Seacrest."

"On Christmas Day, she will look at it and say 'That's very sweet honey...' and I never see her wear whatever I bought."

"Michelle's hard to shop for," he said.

Choosing a gift for his oldest daughter, 16-year-old Malia, is easier.

"Malia is fun to shop for because she is a big film buff. So one year I got her a collection of the 100 greatest movies ever made and she loved that," he said.

"That may have been my best Christmas present to her."

At the end of November, Obama visited Washington's Politics and Prose independent bookstore with his two teenage daughters, where he purchased "some books for various members of the family."

The Obamas leave Friday for Hawaii, the president's home state, where the family traditionally spends Christmas.