Washington: Melania Trump will not be attending the traditional White House meeting on Wednesday with first lady Jill Biden, sources said.
Traditionally, when the outgoing President hosts the incoming President-elect in the Oval Office, the first lady hosts her successor for tea in the residence.
Michelle Obama hosted Melania Trump for tea in the Yellow Room after the 2016 election. However, Melania Trump did not meet with Jill Biden after the contentious 2020 race as Donald Trump repeatedly claimed he was the true winner.
Jill Biden extended Melania Trump the customary invitation last week as her husband also invited the President-elect to the Oval Office, a symbolic gesture to show the country and the world that there will be a peaceful transition of power — and an implicit rebuke of Donald Trump, who refused Joe Biden the same meeting in 2020 as he contested that election’s results. The two are set to meet on Wednesday at 11 a.m., according to the White House.
Melania and Jill have yet to speak in the aftermath of Kamala Harris’ humiliating defeat, even though their husbands had a cordial phone call, sources confirmed.
“Mrs. Trump is not going, and they have not spoken,” a source with knowledge said of the first ladies told DailyMail.com of Wednesday’s presidential sitdown.
There was discussion about encouraging Melania Trump to come to Washington for the meeting, as some members of the President-elect’s team felt it was important. But the incoming first lady, who spent her first four years in office redefining the role and what was expected, is laying an early marker indicating she will have even more autonomy the second time around.
Aside from 2020, it has been tradition for the current first lady to host the incoming first lady at the White House.
The last time Jill Biden and Melania Trump would have seen each other would have been at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral in November of last year. All living former first ladies attended.
Four years ago, Donald Trump snubbed Joe Biden after Biden defeated him, refusing to invite him for the traditional Oval Office meeting and delaying the transition process. Melania Trump followed her husband’s lead and didn’t reach out to Jill Biden.
The Bidens, however, have promised a peaceful and orderly transition to the upcoming Trump Administration.
“The Bidens extended congratulations and a joint invite to the Trumps to meet at the White House,” Jill Biden’s office said.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden will meet on Wednesday in the Oval Office.
The Bidens will attend Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, according to the White House.
Traditionally, the outgoing president welcomes the incoming one to the White House on the morning of the inauguration before riding together in the same vehicle to the Capitol building for the swearing-in.
Trump rode with then-President Barack Obama to his own inauguration. Biden attended that inauguration in his role as outgoing Vice President.
–IANS