US First Lady Melania Trump has refused to invite the wife of US President-elect Joseph Biden, Jill Biden, to the White House hospitality tour, CNN reports.
Thus, she broke a tradition that had lasted more than 70 years: before the inauguration, the wife of the outgoing president received the wife of the new head of state in the family wing of the residence, showed her the living quarters and talked about life in the White House.
Although Trump herself was invited in 2016 by the wife of the 44th US President Michelle Obama, Melania Trump did not send Jill Biden an invitation.
The tradition began in the 1950s when Bess Truman, wife of President Harry Truman, invited President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower to the White House.
Biden’s inauguration is scheduled for January 20. In particular, Vice President Mike Pence is invited to the event. At the same time, Biden called Trump’s decision not to attend the event, which he announced earlier, as good.