Melania Trump, the wife of U.S. President-elect Trump, stated on Wednesday (November 13) that she would not attend the meeting at the White House with First Lady Jill Biden, but she wished Trump success.
Trump was invited to the White House on Wednesday to meet with President Biden in the Oval Office. This meeting is part of the presidential transition process. Trump defeated Vice President Harris in the election on November 5, becoming the next President.
As is customary, when the President-elect meets with the President in the Oval Office, the President-elect’s First Lady is also invited to meet with the First Lady at the White House simultaneously.
Trump’s campaign team confirmed on Wednesday morning that Melania would not accompany him to Washington, D.C.
Melania’s office also released a statement on Wednesday morning saying, “Mrs. Trump will not be attending the meeting at the White House today. Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to begin the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success.”
The statement also criticized the media’s inaccurate reporting.
“In this situation, the media continues to provide false, misleading, and inaccurate information by quoting unnamed sources. Please identify your news sources,” the statement read.
Before Melania issued the statement, several media outlets reported that she had declined Jill’s invitation and portrayed it as related to past grievances.
After Trump took office in 2017, Melania waited until their son Barron, who was then 10 years old, finished a school year in New York before moving to the White House. Barron is now attending college in New York.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Biden and Trump had a substantive meeting in the Oval Office for about two hours.
She said they discussed domestic and foreign policy issues, with Biden also addressing important items on the congressional to-do list, such as providing government funding and disaster relief funds.
Biden also emphasized to Trump that the transition would be orderly and the transfer of power would be peaceful.
Trump expressed his gratitude for this. “Thank you very much. Politics is tough, and in many instances, it’s not a very wonderful world, but today is a good day, and I appreciate it very much. The transition is going very smoothly, everything will go as smoothly as possible, and I appreciate you, Joe,” Trump said before their meeting began.