When President-elect Donald Trump meets with President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday, Nov. 12, their wives won’t do the same. Various reports indicate Melania Trump has decided to pass on the visit.
CNN and other media outlets report that Melania Trump won’t attend the traditional White House meeting that many view as signifying the peaceful transfer of power. CNN also reports that First Lady Jill Biden extended the invitation last week but Melania Trump has a prior scheduling conflict.
However, the New York Post’s sources said Melania Trump won’t be attending because of the Biden administration’s raid on Mar-a-Lago in the now-dismissed classified documents case.
Melania Trump has publicly called the FBI’s raid in 2022, “an invasion of privacy.” Agents supposedly went through her wardrobe as part of their search for documents that Donald Trump took with him from the White House at the end of his term.
After the 2016 election, Melania Trump visited the White House and received a tour from outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama. It’s typical for the first lady to host her successor for tea at the White House.
Then in 2020, into 2021, as Donald Trump contested his election loss to Joe Biden, the Trumps didn’t invite the Bidens to the White House.
This time around, Trump and Biden are expected to discuss various foreign policy issues. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says Biden will urge Trump not to abandon the administration’s financial commitment to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.