Melania Trump skips the White House
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President-elect Trump and former first lady Melania Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6. Photo: Jim Watson/ AFP via Getty Images
Melania Trump declined a White House invitation on Wednesday, and is unlikely to move back to Pennsylvania Avenue full time during President-elect Trump's second term.
The big picture: Melania Trump kept a relatively low profile during the campaign, and has signaled she will take a different approach to the role of first lady the second time around.
Driving the news: Melania Trump's office confirmed that she would not join her husband Wednesday to meet President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who had extended her an invitation.
- "Her husband's return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success," the statement read.
- Jill Biden handed Trump a letter for his wife during the visit.
- Representatives for the incoming first lady and for the transition team didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.
State of play: Melania Trump has not spoken in depth about her plans for the new term, but Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery reported in June that people who know and have reported on her doubt that she will move back to D.C.
- "More likely: jetting between Palm Beach and New York (where her son Barron is attending NYU), coming to the White House only for ceremonial undertakings like state dinners or special events," Montgomery wrote.
- Sources also told CNN the White House is unlikely to be her primary residence.
What she's saying: "I'm not anxious because this time is different," Melania Trump said on "Fox & Friends" in October. "I have much more experience, much more knowledge."
- "I was in the White House before. So when you go in, you know exactly what to expect. You know what kind of people you need to get. You need to have people that are on your team that they have the same vision as me and to serve me because they serve the country."
- She said she felt her support for her husband was similar during the 2024 and 2016 campaign cycles.
Catch up quick: Melania Trump stayed largely off the campaign trail during the 2024 race, but she promoted her self-titled memoir in the final months before the election.
- She didn't introduce Trump at the Republican National Convention in July, but said in a different Fox News interview that a letter she wrote following the assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania served as a substitute.
Between the lines: Her memoir revealed that she strongly supports abortion rights, while Trump supported the reversal of Roe vs. Wade.
- "Restricting a woman's right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body," she wrote. "I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life."
Flashback: Melania delayed her move to D.C. during Trump's first administration until June 2017, after her son finished the school year.
- She kept a fairly low profile during those four years.
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