Michelle Obama avoided mentioning Donald Trump by name at the London launch of her book.

The former First Lady made thinly veiled references to the new president in conversation with host Stephen Colbert at the O2 Arena to discuss her autobiography, Becoming. 

Mr Colbert made several references to Trump but beyond light-hearted jibes which received a ripple of applause, the former First Lady refused to be drawn.

She joked about how her husband “never had any indictments” during his presidency.

Trump was repeatedly referred to as only “the current occupant of the White House” during the event.

Mr Colbert offered Mrs Obama several opportunities to speak on the state of politics, without any explicit references to contentious topics.

She said “We’re in a low but we’ve been lower. We’ve had tougher times… so much in our history and we’ve always come out on the other end, better, stronger.

“Change is hard, no one ever said it would be easy. We are in the throws of change.”

She added: “You are there to lead, your pain and your disappointment are not the point.”

“It’s our job to go high, it’s easy to go low. It’s easy to operate at your visceral fear.

“Going high means you’re taking a long-term view.”

Mrs Obama did nothing to dispel the rumours about a future presidential run while speaking at the London event.

The former First Lady has been the source of speculation ever since her husband left the White House in 2016.

The mum-of-two last night regaled the audience of 15,000 packed into the O2 with stories from the White House, some of which featured in her smash hit autobiography.

She revealed that Malia, who was aged 10 to 18 during her time in the White House, was taught how to drive by the Secret Service.

Mrs Obama said: “We couldn’t teach them ourselves, we could drive with them.

“And so Malia was taken to the Secret Service driving range before she went out on roads.

“And so she came back and she told me ‘guess what they told me to?’.”

“And it was 'floor it'. Because you need to know how to brake, so she just floored it.”

Michelle, 55, has always been an independent voice while also being a loyal supporter of her husband.

But three years after she and her husband left the White House her star is perhaps higher than ever.

As the crowd waited for her to come on stage. a Mexican wave rippled inside the arena. It was part fireside conversation, part rock concert.

When asked by host Stephen Colbert about “fear” and “turmoil” in society, Michelle quoted Martin Luther King saying: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

"We need to do some bending,”  she added.

And she said: “We can not afford to sit on the sidelines."

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