Former US First Lady Melania Trump has reportedly declined an invite to attend the traditional White House meeting with first lady Jill Biden after husband and businessman Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Elections 20204. While some media reports say it is scheduling conflict for the former first lady related to her newly released memoir, some say Melania Trump just doesn't want to meet Jill Biden.
The reason they have cited is the 2022 Mar-a-Lago raids when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) scoured through the Trumps' Florida mansion on the accusations that he was withholding the classified White House documents.
"She ain’t going. Jill Biden’s husband authorised the FBI snooping through her underwear drawer. The Bidens are disgusting,” a source was quoted as saying by the New York Post. “Jill Biden isn’t someone Melania needs to meet,” the source said.
Jill Biden extended Melania Trump the customary invitation last week as her husband, Joe Biden, also invited the president-elect Donald Trump to the Oval Office, a symbolic gesture to show the country and the world that there will be a peaceful transition of power. Also Read | Robotic dog now patrolling Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida – Here’s why
Except from 2020, it has been tradition for the current first lady to host the incoming first lady at the White House. In 2016, then-first lady Michelle Obama hosted Melania Trump for tea in the White House's Yellow Oval Room and took her on a tour of the private residence.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden are set to meet on Wednesday, according to the White House.
Melania Trump had expressed displeasure in an interview over the August 2022 raids, saying she was angry. “I saw unpleasant stuff that nobody wants to see. And you get angry because, you know, nobody should be putting up with that kind of stuff,” she had said.
Donald Trump won a second term as President of the United States after securing 295 electoral votes in the 2024 presidential election, defeating Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who garnered 226 votes.
