US First Lady Jill Biden has invited Melania Trump, who will return as the First Lady after Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the recently held US elections. However, according to a CNN report, Melania Trump is unlikely to attend the traditional White House meeting with Jill Biden.
The sources familiar with Melania Trump's plans cited a prior scheduling conflict for the former first lady related to her newly released memoir. One source said the
the decision had not been finalized, as per CNN.
Jill Biden extended the customary invitation to Melania Trump last week, as her husband also invited the president-elect to the Oval Office. This was a symbolic gesture to show the country and the world that there would be a peaceful transition of power.
Melania will regain the symbolic title of "First Lady" -- a role she used during Trump's 2017-2021 presidency to campaign for children's health care and online safety.
She has kept a relatively low profile since then, but the 54-year-old did break cover to publish a self-titled memoir weeks before Tuesday's election.
The book shared her pro-choice stance on abortion -- a view that seemingly clashed with Trump's boasting of his role in appointing Supreme Court justices who scrapped the federal right to abortion under Roe v Wade.
Meanwhile, according to another report,Melania Trump was still upset after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “snooping" her underwear drawer during a 2022 raid on her family’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as a part of government probe. “She ain’t going. Jill Biden’s husband authorised the FBI snooping through her underwear drawer. The Bidens are disgusting," a source told the New York Post.
There was discussion about encouraging Melania Trump to come to Washington for the meeting,as some members of the president-elect's team felt it was important,
the report stated.
Aside 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.
*With Agency Inputs
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