Michelle Obama to skip Trump’s inauguration, breaking with tradition

Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, her office announced Tuesday.

“Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” a statement from the Obamas’ office read.

The statement did not provide an explanation for her absence.

The former first lady’s decision to skip Trump’s inauguration is a break in tradition among former presidents and their spouses.

Former president Bill Clinton and his wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, will be attending the swearing-in ceremony, a spokesperson confirmed to The Washington Post. The Associated Press reported that George W. Bush’s office stated he and former first lady Laura Bush will also attend.

Neither Donald Trump nor Melania Trump attended Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2020.

Michelle Obama’s planned absence Monday follows another notable absence last week at the state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter, which was held at Washington National Cathedral. Barack Obama was at the service, as were Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Melania Trump, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush also attended the service. Barack Obama engaged in what appeared to be an amicable conversation with Donald Trump.

Michelle Obama’s upcoming absence also renews attention to her candid and open disdain of Trump. Though she attended Trump’s inauguration in 2017, photographers captured her troubled expression that day as she and Barack Obama left the White House in images that went viral.

In her 2018 memoir, “Becoming,” Obama wrote that Trump’s promotion of the false birther conspiracy theory put her family’s safety at risk and that “for this I’d never forgive him.”

In 2023, while promoting her next book on a podcast, Obama spoke in depth about her thoughts at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony in 2017, saying that she was disappointed at the lack of diversity in the crowd and that the ceremony did not reflect “the broader sense of America.”