Mr Key told TVNZ's Seven Sharp that Mr Obama called from the White House yesterday to congratulate him after National won a third term in government.
"I was talking to [Cabinet minister] Steven Joyce and I was on my mobile and I didn't recognise the number so I didn't take it.
"And after a couple of calls I was carrying on talking to Steven and then my police who were in the car ... said, 'The President's trying to get hold of you', so I said to Steven I better hang up."
Mr Key said it was not yet known whether Mr Obama would visit
New Zealand when he was in the region to attend the G20 meeting in Australia in November.
He said the President "would love to come" but had a heavy schedule because he was also attending the East Asia Summit in Burma and Apec in China.
By Isaac Davison of the New Zealand Herald
