Melania Trump’s 2nd stint as US First Lady unlikely to be full-time: Report
After declining a White House invitation from the outgoing First Lady Jill Biden on Wednesday, Melania Trump is unlikely to shift to Washington full time as First Lady, sources told Axios, signalling her willingness to break traditions.
Talks on how and where she will invest her time are underway, CNN reported, while citing sources. However, it is more likely that Melania Trump will divide her time between Palm Beach and New York, where her son Barron Trump is attending New York University, visiting the White House primarily for ceremonial events such as state dinners or special occasions, Axios reported.
One of her first official decisions was to bypass the symbolic meeting with Jill Biden at the White House as outgoing President Joe Biden hosted her husband and President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Both the leaders discussed the Ukraine and Middle East conflict in the first transition meeting. Sources told CNN that Melania had to skip the meeting due to her prior schedule related to her book.
On Wednesday, the office of Melania Trump confirmed that she would not be attending the meeting.
This incident hints that Melania Trump, who invested her first term reshaping the role of First Lady, is establishing an early precedent, suggesting that she will wield even greater autonomy in a potential second term.
“I’m not anxious because this time is different. I have much more experience and much more knowledge. I was in the White House before. When you go in, you know exactly what to expect,” Melania said during an interview with Fox News in October.
Melania Trump remained mostly absent from her husband’s campaign trail during the 2024 presidential race, as she focused on promoting her memoir.
She did not introduce Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in July. However, in a Fox News interview, she mentioned that a letter she wrote after the assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania had served as a substitute.