Obama's rough week

Timothy Geithner, Barack Obama's treasury secretary, has found himself tangled up in many of the White House's troubles this week. Geithner told fellow administration officials last Thursday that, according to treasury lawyers, he could not legally stop bonuses payments at bailed-out insurer AIG. By Monday, Obama, reflecting public opinion, was denouncing the payouts and asked officials to look for a way to claw back the money Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

When Brian Cowen spoke alongside Obama on St Patrick's Day, the teleprompter reloaded a line Obama had just delivered, embarrassing both the Irish taoiseach and the US president. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP

As AIG chief Edward Liddy was grilled by a House subcommitte on Wednesday, Obama said he would ask Congress to pass legislation giving the government greater regulatory authority over financial institutions Photograph: Mike Theiler/Reuters

Demonstrations in New York yesterday illustrated the public's outrage over the US government's handling of corporate bailouts Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters

Obama conducted two town hall meetings in California this week as he faced growing critcisim of his handling of the economy Photograph: David McNew/Getty

Obama couldn't even avoid controversy in the sports world. Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski blasted the president for not picking his team to advance in the NCAA tournament saying: "The economy is something that he should focus on." Photograph: Chris Keane/Reuters

Obama made an appearance on the Tonight Show last night, but it wasn't as light an engagement as he may have hoped. The president made a serious gaffe when he made reference to the Special Olympics while joking about his poor bowling skills Photograph: Rex Features