Michelle Obama will not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration

On By Littum

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama will skip the initiation by President-elect Donald Trump, for the second time in two weeks, that she will not attend a gathering of former US leaders and their spouses, but former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will be there.

Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join their husbands for the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, officials said.

“Former President Barack Obama has been confirmed to attend the 60th inauguration ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” said a statement from the office of Barack and Michelle Obama, which was shared with the Associated Press.

No explanation was given as to why Michelle Obama skipped Trump’s inauguration. She also did not attend former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral in Washington last week. Former Presidents Trump, Obama, Bush and Clinton and their spouses attended – except for her.

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports that a former first lady will skip Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.

Bill Clinton will attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, a person familiar with the former president’s schedule confirmed to the AP. Hillary Clinton will also attend, a spokesman said.

George W. Bush’s office said he and former first lady Laura Bush are also attending.

Michelle Obama was the only spouse absent from last week’s funeral service at Washington National Cathedral, where her husband and Trump sat next to each other, talking and laughing like old friends, despite the history of political enmity between the Democratic former president and the returning Republicans.

The former first lady campaigned against Trump during his 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns. her 2018 memoirshe described her shock when she learned that Trump would succeed her husband, and she condemned Trump’s “birther” campaign, which questioned Barack Obama’s citizenship.

Michelle Obama campaigned last fall for the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, and delivered an emotional speech in Michigan, where she challenged men to vote for the vice president and argued that women’s lives would be in danger if Trump returned to the White House.

All three former presidents and their wives attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, including Hillary Clinton, after she lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump. Carter also attended.