Staff Reports
Melania Trump is taking a pass on tradition and skipping the customary tea with the new first lady, Jill Biden, as the Trumps once again gear up to reclaim their status as America’s first family. Supposedly, Melania has a scheduling conflict with the big meeting between President Biden and President Trump in the Oval Office. Who can blame her? Doing tea with the Bidens while her husband is hashing out power transition details seems like a poor use of her time.
The tradition of first ladies meeting for tea is more unusual than regular family dinners these days. When Michelle Obama was in the White House, she graciously hosted Melania, but that was also during more civilized times, before the Bidens were in the mix. In 2020, the customary meeting was avoided entirely when Trump’s refusal to invite Biden to the White House naturally had an impact on any potential first lady meet-ups. One would think Melania might want to spare herself the cringe of small talk over chamomile with Mrs. Biden.
President Trump and President Biden are set to meet in a pretentious display of unity that reeks of political theater, much of which has become the norm in modern American politics. While both parties are putting on their best smiles for the cameras, the reality is that the relationship between the Trumps and the Bidens is about as warm as a winter’s day in North Dakota. Trump is unrelenting in his claims that the Democrats swiped the 2020 election, and he’s not shy about pointing fingers at Biden for the barrage of legal shenanigans that have dogged him ever since.
Typically, when the outgoing president and incoming president meet, the first lady hosts her successor for tea. https://t.co/7nmPKnLaqK
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 13, 2024
As if the political tension wasn’t enough, Mrs. Trump has recently expressed her fury over the FBI’s infamous raid on their residence at Mar-a-Lago. It seems a tad ironic that while they’re trying to transition into their roles as America’s first family, Mrs. Trump is still smarting from that chaotic invasion of her privacy. Anyone who has had their closet rifled through by law enforcement knows it’s enough to turn anyone into an angry mama bear.
Ultimately, a federal judge tossed the case against Trump regarding the mishandling of classified documents like a kid tossing out expired Halloween candy. With tensions running high and wounds still fresh, skipping the meeting might just be Melania’s way of preserving her sanity and dignity. One can only imagine her sipping a cocktail at Mar-a-Lago while dodging the Bidens and their tea set. For her, that’s probably a far more peaceful transition into life once again as a first lady.
