If President Barack Obama could start his presidency over , he says he would have made closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba his first order of business . On his second day in office , Obama did sign an executive order seeking that the detention center for terrorism suspects be closed within a year . President Obama made the comment about the prison during a speech to the City Club of Cleveland in Ohio on Wednesday . Scroll down for video . President Barack Obama said he should have closed Guantanamo Bay prison on the first day he was in office . On his second day in office , Obama did order the detention center for terrorism suspects be closed within a year . The prison had 242 detainees when Obama began his presidency , but its population has been reduced to 122 . He was responding to a question about what advice he 'd give his inexperienced self , according to Politico . He said : ' I think I would 've closed Guantanamo on the first day . ' I did n't because at that time we had a bipartisan agreement that it should be closed . ' The prison had 242 detainees when Obama began his presidency . According to Obama , the politics around closure grew increasingly tough and 'people got scared by the rhetoric . ' Obama made the comment during a speech to the City Club of Cleveland in Ohio on Wednesday . He said Wednesday that 'the path of least resistance was just to leave it open . ' He 's been able to cut the population down to 122 detainees , but Congress has blocked the closure . Lawmakers have banned the Obama administration from bringing detainees to the United States for imprisonment or trial . In his State of the Union earlier this year , Obama repeated he wanted the facility closed , The Hill reported . He said : ' I will not relent in my determination to shut it down . ' Defense Secretary Ash Carter testified before Congress Wednesday that the administration needs to work with lawmakers to find a 'lawful ' way to close the prison . The delayed order to shut down the prison is n't the only thing Obama regrets . He also said he would have done something different with his hair if he could do it all again . Obama joked : ' I was thinking maybe I should 've told myself to start dying my hair now , before people noticed , because by a year in it was too late . 'Michelle thinks I look distinguished . '
Obama made remark during a speech to the City Club of Cleveland in Ohio . He did sign an order seeking the closure of the prison on Wednesday . The prison had 242 detainees at the time but population is down to 122 . Congress has blocked closure of detention center for terrorism suspects .