Will she or won't she? Unclear if Melania Trump will have tea with Jill Biden.
The Bidens have invited the Trumps to the White House but one chair might be empty when the rival families meet.
President-elect Donald Trump is taking Joe Biden up on his offer. Will the once and future first lady Melania Trump take tea with Jill Biden? Don't count on it.
A day after it became clear that Trump would retake the White House after his decisive victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, the president and first lady invited the president-elect and his wife to the White House.
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“President Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together," the White House said in a statement Wednesday about the phone call.
While the president-elect confirmed his acceptance the same day through his spokesperson saying he "looked forward to the meeting," the former first lady has kept silent.
Several news outlets have reported Melania will skip the invitation, bucking White House tradition for the second time in four years.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed on Saturday that the meeting between "President Biden and President-elect Trump" would take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Oval Office.
But there was no word from the first lady or her representatives.
It has been a century-old custom for the first lady to host tea with her successor. In 2016, Michelle Obama hosted "a tea and a tour" with Melania Trump in the Yellow Oval Room, located in the White House residence.
The Trumps did not host the Bidens in the White House after Joe Biden won the presidency in 2020, nor did they attend Biden's inauguration following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Trump's false claims the election was stolen.
The Trump campaign did not respond when asked if Melania would accompany her husband to the White House on Wednesday.
The first lady's office did not directly respond.
"The Bidens extended congratulations and a joint invite to the Trumps to meet at the White House," a spokesperson said.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Melania Trump have tea with Jill Biden? Here's what we know.