Jill Biden Describes Melania Trump Inauguration Car Ride Tension
Jill Biden described a tense melania trump inauguration car ride to President Donald Trump’s January 2025 inauguration, saying Melania Trump gave brief answers and kept trying to steer the conversation to the weather. In excerpts from her memoir, Biden said the exchange came after years of limited contact between the two former first ladies.
January 2025 Inauguration Ride
Biden wrote that John Bessler was assigned to escort both women and faced what she called “arguably one of the trickiest assignments” in breaking the tension. As soon as the three got in the car, she said, he began chatting and asking questions while Melania Trump answered sparingly.
Biden said she asked about Melania Trump’s father after noting that her own mother had recently died. Melania Trump replied that her father was doing well and was with them, then added, “But you know, it’s only been a year.”
When Bessler asked whether the Trumps had a dog, Melania Trump replied, “I asked Barron several times, but he said no, he didn’t want a dog.” Biden wrote that Melania Trump also said Barron Trump attended New York University, had a floor in Trump Tower, went to class and was brought back, and did not see many friends at school, though he had friends from high school.
Jill Biden And Melania Trump
Biden wrote that the two women had little prior relationship. Melania Trump did not invite her to the traditional incoming-outgoing first-lady tea in 2021, and later turned down Biden’s invitation in 2024. Biden said their only other interactions were brief encounters at Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s funerals.
She also wrote that she sent Melania Trump a birthday card each year, as she did for every other living first lady. Biden said Melania Trump blamed President Joe Biden directly for the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, while Biden said she had compassion for her because she had been through a similar search and knew how distressing it was to have agents rummage through an underwear drawer.
White House Note And Aftermath
Before leaving the White House, Biden left Melania Trump a handwritten note and a vase of flowers. She later learned a staff member had slipped a separate letter underneath hers, which she wrote was an attempt at “insinuating oneself into a private historic tradition between two women” and “still frosted me.”
After the inauguration, Biden nudged Doug Emhoff when the speech grew particularly bombastic, and Hillary Clinton laughed when the new president mentioned renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Biden and Joe Biden then boarded Marine One for the last time, and she told him, “Wow, Joe, this is really full circle,” as they lifted off over Washington.
They landed at Joint Base Andrews, where hundreds of supporters gathered in the cold to say goodbye, before flying to Santa Ynez, California.
