President Obama takes Malia to glitzy Bel-Air fundraiser with Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Disney executives after whirlwind stop in Chicago

President Obama jetted off to Los Angeles with his daughter Malia on Thursday where they attended a fundraiser in Bel-Air at the home of Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn and his wife Cindy. 

Among those in attendance were House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall, Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams, Lyn and Norman Lear and Barbra Streisand and James Brolin. 

Tickets for the event ranged from $15,000 to $66,800 per couple.

The trip came after the two spent the day in their hometown of Chicago together where Obama spoke at the University of Chicago.

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Side eye: Malia Obama shoots a glance at Rahm Emanuel getting out of the motorcade on Thursday

Malia Obama was out supporting her father in Chicago today as he traveled to the city's university in order to plug his Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, who the Republicans have rejected

Obama and his eldest daughter were all smiles at O'Hare Airport on Thursday before the President addressed law students on the need to appoint a ninth Supreme Court justice to avoid ties in crucial votes

Malia, 17, and Obama shared a tender moment on the tarmac as they arrived in Chicago, obviously enjoying spending time together

The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama and his daughter touched down just before 8pm on Thursday and were then driven off to Horn's home.

The fundraiser was to raise money for Democrats to win back Republican seats in Congress. 

Obama said at the event that a functioning American democracy is what's at stake in November's elections.

He added that it was important to elect leaders who believe compromise isn't a dirty word, who listen to those who disagree and respect other people's views.

Obama also mentioned Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz several times and said the men were doing Democrats a service by 'laying bare, unvarnished, some of the nonsense we've been dealing with in Congress.'

After the event Obama and Malia returned to the W Hotel to rest up as the pair will be heading to another star-studded event Friday morning.

Tobey Maguire and his wife, jeweler Jennifer Meyers, will be hosting a breakfast for Obama at their home, with tickets going for $33,400-per-couple. 

It is the first of three fundraisers he will be attending on Friday. 

The first daughter of the United States joked with her decidedly unimpressed-looking father as the pair made their way off Air Force One

Wearing a pink coat with high-waisted jeans and a t-shirt, Malia braced herself against the wind and rain as she left the presidential aircraft

Malia, pictured climbing off Marine One with President Obama, has been increasingly accompanying him on official visits, including on his recent controversial trip to Argentina, which she attended along with sister Sasha

Malia was last seen out and about with Obama at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll ten days ago, but reappeared again today

Malia joined Obama among a crowd of students to listen to him explain his choice of Merrick Garland for Supreme Court justice (pictured)

Earlier on Thursday, Obama accused Senate Republicans of jeopardizing the 'integrity of the judicial branch' by refusing to consider his 'extraordinary' nominee to the Supreme Court.

Holding court before Chicago law students, Obama argued that the treatment of judge Merrick Garland will cause the public to lose confidence in the ability of courts at all levels of government to fairly judge cases and resolve controversies.

'Our democracy can't afford that,' said Obama.

Obama said that stance is jeopardizing democracy by leading to potential 4-4 ties on cases from the Supreme Court. He also said there potentially are two terms in which the high court will have to issue rulings without a tie-breaking justice.

Obama described that scenario as unprecedented and said the courts have become a troubling extension of America's broken politics.

'That erodes the institutional integrity of the judicial branch,' Obama told about 300 students, faculty and judges at the University of Chicago Law School, where he taught constitutional law for more than a decade. 

'At that point, people lose confidence in the ability of the courts to fairly adjudicate cases and controversies and our democracy can't afford that.'

Surrounded by secret service agents and glanced at by a few admirers, Malia greets people in the crowd at the University of Chicago

Watched by his eldest daughter, Obama answered questions from students about the nomination of Garland, including whether his nomination promotes racial diversity

Following the speech Malia accompanied Obama on Marine One as they traveled back to the airport, before returning to Air Force One

Malia, who will be leaving high school for university soon, spent the day with her father at the University of Chicago, where he taught constitutional law for over a decade before going into politics

After attending the event in Chicago, Obama will make his way to California for fundraising events, where Malia will also join him

Malia, who was just ten when Obama entered the White House, has not yet revealed which college she will be attending after the President leaves office, though is rumored to have narrowed her choices down to two in New York 

Playing it cool: Malia Obama board Air Force One after spending the day with her father in Chicago

On the Senate floor Thursday, McConnell said Obama would "be telling supporters a politically convenient fairy tale" by arguing that the Constitution requires a Senate vote on his nominee.

Garland has been meeting with Democratic and Republican senators on Capitol Hill, but there is no indication the sessions are influencing the political calculus of the Senate Republican leadership. 

In Chicago, Obama answered some questions from students, including one who asked about the diversity Garland, as a white man, would add to the court.

'Well, he's from Skokie, (Illinois),' Obama joked. He noted that Garland follows his earlier nominations of Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina, and Elena Kagan, who is Jewish, to the high court. 

'When I look at Merrick Garland, yeah, he's a white guy but he's a really outstanding jurist. Sorry.'

The question reflected some of the disappointment among liberal groups who had urged Obama to use the vacancy to further expand diversity on the court. 

Obama had been urged to name the first African-American female justice, while others hoped to see the first Asian-American. Some have worried that Obama's choice of a white man from the Midwest would deflate enthusiasm among the liberal base heading into November's elections.