Barack Obama Reacts to Oldest Daughter Malia Dropping Her Last Name

The former first daughter and budding filmmaker now goes by Malia Ann in her professional life, aiming to separate her work from her family's legacy

Barack Obama is opening up about his daughter Malia Obama's decision to drop the family name in her professional life.

For Malia's debut film, The Heart, the 26-year-old writer and director left "Obama" out of her name, instead going by "Malia Ann" in the credits, PEOPLE previously reported. Ann is her middle name, and the name of Barack's late mother.

"I was all like, ‘You do know they'll know who you are,' " Barack said of his reaction to the name change on The Pivot Podcast on Thursday, Oct. 29. "And she's all like, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association.' So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that."

Barack said during the interview that his daughters, including 23-year-old Sasha, have been intent on working their way into their careers rather than relying on their parents' fame.

"The challenge for [Michelle and me] is letting us give them any help at all," the former president said. "I mean they're very sensitive about this stuff. They're very stubborn about it."

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Barack, 63, explained that the attention Malia and Sasha have received since they have gotten older and left the White House "drives them nuts."

"Their attitude is, ‘We're not looking for all that,' " he added. "So they're grounded."

Related: Michelle Obama Opens Up About Raising Daughters in the White House: ‘They Had to Come Correct’

Reflecting on how political journalists covered the Obamas during his time as president, Barack explained that he "basically made a deal with the press pool."

"I said, 'You can follow me around,' " he continued. "'You can talk about me. You do whatever you need to do. Leave my children alone because they have the right to grow up. They didn't choose this. Let them grow up.' And to the credit of the press they did leave them alone."

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Just last month, Malia attended the 50th annual Deauville American Film Festival in France, where she presented The Heart.

It was a new setting for Malia, who was honored with the Young Spirit award at the festival, and she admitted she wasn't used to life on the red carpet while speaking at the event.

"I'm so excited. I mean, I've never done anything like this ... so of course [I'm] a little bit terrified, but mostly just excited," the filmmaker told Paris Match in a clip shared to TikTok.