Melania Trump Still Hasn’t Reached out to Jill Biden, Ashley Biden Says

With Inauguration Day set for Wednesday, the customary traditions that come with the transition of power have all but gone out the window as president-elect Joe Biden will be ushered into the White House without the welcoming of president Donald Trump. Ahead of the momentous event, Ashley Biden revealed that First Lady Melania Trump has yet to reach out to Dr. Jill Biden.

Speaking to Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY, Biden said that the Trumps are not “doing the traditional protocol.” Calling it “unfortunate,” she said this includes Melania giving a tour of the White House to the newest First Lady. The two women also typically share tea on the morning of the big day. In that interview with Bush Hager, who knows plenty about the transfer of power being she went through it with her father, George, Biden said the family has accepted that the usual isn’t going to be a thing this time around, despite the tea-and-tour routine between the two having gone on for decades prior.

This is just one of a handful of traditions that will be broken on Wednesday. Trump nor his family will be in attendance on Inauguration Day, breaking the regular scene of the outgoing president handing over the reins of the White House to the president-elect in the peaceful transfer of power. It’s a move that has happened since 1869 when Andrew Johnson skipped out on the procedures. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to be in attendance, however. Trump will depart from Washington D.C. early in the morning as he begins his trip south to his Florida property in Mar-a-Lago. The normal passing of the baton between president and president-elect was broken weeks ago as Trump refused to invite Biden to the White House ahead of his inauguration as has become a routine gesture between outgoing and incoming presidents. When Biden and his family arrives on Wednesday, they will be greeted by White House chief usher, Timothy Harleth, according to CNN.

Biden arrived in D.C. on Tuesday night after leaving from his home in Delaware. In front of the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool, the former Vice President paid his respects to the 400,000 victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. He was also joined by his wife, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Biden’s message was about remembering the lives that were lost as a way to begin the healing process.