Contrary to historical norms, former First Lady Melania Trump decided not to accept the invitation extended by current First Lady Jill Biden for the conventional White House tea meeting. Sources allege that the 2022 FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago was the primary factor behind this decision.
This choice diverges from the longstanding custom of outgoing and incoming first ladies gathering at the White House during the transition of presidencies.
Despite the scheduled meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden at the Oval Office last Wednesday, a customary practice post-election, Melania Trump did not partake in the corresponding first lady tradition.
An individual close to Melania Trump expressed strong opinions regarding her decision, highlighting the FBI’s search of her personal effects during the 2022 raid at their residence in Palm Beach, Florida. The source implies that the former First Lady’s refusal is directly linked to the Biden administration’s approval of the FBI search.
In a previous interview on “Fox & Friends” in September, Melania Trump expressed her dissatisfaction regarding the Mar-a-Lago raid, labeling it as an “invasion of privacy.” She recounted her experience upon discovering her residence had been searched. “I saw unpleasant stuff that nobody wants to see,” she said, referencing the inspection of her wardrobe and her son Barron’s rooms by the FBI agents.
Traditions have been frequently broken in the interactions between the current and former first families. After the 2020 election, Trump did not extend an invitation to the Bidens to the White House, a departure from decades of presidential transition protocol. This stands in stark contrast to Melania Trump’s own experience in 2016 when she was given a tour of the White House by then-First Lady Michelle Obama.
The search at Mar-a-Lago, which has been a catalyst for the current friction, was part of a federal investigation into the management of classified White House documents. The case was later dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in July.