President-elect Donald Trump’s wife reportedly can’t forgive the Mar-a-Lago estate raid
Melania Trump, the former and soon-to-be first lady of the US, has declined an invitation to the White House. This is reportedly due to President Joe Biden’s authorization of an FBI search of her personal belongings at Mar-a-Lago.
Republican Donald Trump decisively defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in last week’s election. Biden extended a formal White House invitation to the Trumps on Saturday, and the meeting was scheduled for Wednesday morning, local time.
“She ain’t going,” a source familiar with Melania’s decision told the New York Post on Monday. “Jill Biden’s husband authorized the FBI snooping through her underwear drawer. The Bidens are disgusting,” the source added. “Jill Biden isn’t someone Melania needs to meet.”
The FBI raided the Trumps’ Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August 2022, supposedly searching for classified documents. The unprecedented raid and subsequent criminal charges were eventually dismissed by the US Supreme Court, which ruled that presidents have complete immunity for all their official actions.
CNN also reported that Melania may not attend the meeting, citing a “scheduling conflict” related to her recently published memoir. This was attributed to three anonymous sources familiar with her plans.
The symbolic invitation is intended to show Americans and the world that the Bidens have accepted the Democrats’ defeat and will peacefully transfer power on January 20, according to CNN. The network also suggested that the Democrats sought to establish the moral high ground, as Trump had snubbed the Bidens after the controversial 2020 election.
Four years ago, Biden and Harris officially received a record 81 million votes to defeat Trump by the same electoral college margin he used to win against Hillary Clinton four years earlier. Republicans have maintained that the election was plagued by widespread irregularities, a claim the Democrats have denounced as “election denial” and “insurrection.”
This time around, Trump won 312 electoral college votes, the popular vote, and all seven swing states, while the Republicans regained the Senate and appear to have maintained control of the House of Representatives.
The meeting between the incumbent president and his elected successor – as well as their spouses – is a long-standing tradition in Washington. Michelle Obama had Melania Trump over for tea in 2016, so she could show her around the residence.
Wednesday’s meeting is being coordinated by Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s campaign manager Susie Wiles.