The transition of power in the United States after the presidential elections also includes the change in an influential position: the first lady. Jill Biden and Melania Trump will have particular roles in preparing the White House for the presidential transition.
Not only will the United States have a new president in the coming weeks, a familiar figure for the White House will also return to the position he held a few years ago. Melania Trump, wife of the president-elect, will once again be first lady.
It is known that during the transition process, the sitting first lady invites the wife of the president-elect to tour the private rooms and review the plans of the White House, as well as the permanent art collection so that the incoming first lady can choose the decoration that the executive mansion will have.
The tradition of the incumbent first lady inviting her successor to tea dates back centuries. However, Melania Trump did not invite Jill Biden to the White House after the 2020 election. Years earlier, in 2016, Michelle Obama received Trump's wife at the presidential residence.
Recently, current first lady Jill Biden invited Melania Trump to visit the White House during the meeting between President Biden and the president-elect on November 13. However, Donald Trump's wife declined the invitation.
Trump will not attend today's meeting at the White House. Her husband's return to the Oval Office to begin the transition process is encouraging and she wishes him much success,” her office said hours before the meeting.
Jill Biden, however, joined her husband Joe Biden to welcome Trump to the White House, and according to administration spokespeople, she gave the president-elect a handwritten note addressed to his wife. In which he “expressed his team's availability to assist in the transition.”
The meeting between Biden and Trump in the Oval Office lasted about two hours, according to the White House. Before their meeting, the president-elect thanked the current president for receiving him at the executive mansion during the transition process. In 2020, after Biden's victory over Trump, the then-president did not invite the president-elect to the White House.
During the transition, the first ladies are tasked with supporting the presidential move, transferring their initiatives and attending protocol events before the inauguration of the next president.
An important public figure
The role of first lady is not described in the US Constitution as is the position of president, it is not an elected position and does not have an assigned salary. However, over the years its position has evolved into one of high influence in the country's culture.
Furthermore, his closeness to the president means that he is considered an important figure to propose cases to the president. Rosalynn Carter, who held the position from 1977 to 1981, was the first to have her own office in the East Wing of the White House, officially establishing the “Office of the First Lady.”
This office operates under the Executive Office of the President and is therefore funded by the budget allocated to it.
Experts from Johns Hopkins University in Washington estimate that although the first approach of the first lady in the United States was a “ceremonial” role, over time it has reflected the change in the role of women in society. Some have been vocal in the defense of health and education.
In the case of Jill Biden, for example, she came to the position with a job as an English teacher, which she kept even as first lady. On multiple occasions it appears in cultural events in the White House and has been vocal in causes such as the fight against cancer, access to education and support for military families.
Melania Trump, for her part, was considered a somewhat “absent” figure from the White House, according to historians, during the beginning of Trump's last term, staying much of the time in New York with her son Barron.
The 54-year-old woman, born in Slovenia, offered few speeches during the most recent campaign in which her husband was seeking re-election, however, after Trump's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, Melania Trump will have a new opportunity to define her role as first lady in a second non-consecutive term.
In her most recent autobiographical book, she noted that she has “a strong sense of duty to use the first lady's platform for good.”