国际英语新闻：Obama leaves Washington for Asia trip

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama left Washington D.C. on Friday for his Asia trip, after his Democratic party took a "shellacking" in the midterm elections and surrendered control of the House to the Republicans.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama boarded Air Force One at the Andrews Airforce base on Friday morning.

He was accompanied by aides, including Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor and assistant for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement in the Obama administration, and Tom Donilon, the newly-installed National Security Advisor.

Obama is expected to stop by Ramstein, Germany for a short while and then head for Mumbai, India, the first stop of his nine- day Asia trip.

Following that, he will go to Indonesia where he has spent part of his childhood. Then Obama will travel to South Korea for the G20 summit and then Japan for APEC meetings.

Obama's trip is believed to be part of the administration's efforts to sustain U.S. dominant role in the Asia Pacific region.