Jill Biden says Melania Trump 'kept trying to switch the topic to the weather' during their 'frosty' Inauguration Day car ride

The peaceful transition of power on Inauguration Day occasionally comes with some awkward moments.

In her memoir, "View from the East Wing," Jill Biden recounted a car ride with Melania Trump from the White House to the Capitol for Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration.

Traditionally, the outgoing and incoming presidents share one vehicle, while their spouses travel in another. Jill Biden mentioned that inauguration committee member John Bessler, married to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, "must have drawn the shortest of all possible straws" to be chosen to accompany her and Melania Trump in their car.

In her memoir, Jill Biden wrote that she's had "few interactions" with Melania Trump.

"The presidents' car was likely frosty too, but at least they'd spent considerable time in each other's company," Jill Biden wrote in the memoir, released on June 2. "This would be one of few interactions Melania and I had ever had."

'Polite and controlled'

The two first ladies have only met a few times over the years.

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Donald Trump refused to concede and did not extend an invitation to his successor for the traditional postelection meeting at the White House. Similarly, Melania Trump did not invite Jill Biden for the customary tea.

When Donald Trump won a second, non-consecutive term in 2024, the Bidens revived the White House tradition of extending an invitation to the incoming president and first lady. Donald Trump accepted, but Melania Trump declined, citing a prior commitment.

Jill Biden wrote that they had "met briefly" at the funerals of Rosalynn Carter in 2023 and Jimmy Carter in 2024, and that she'd called Melania Trump after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"She was polite and controlled as ever," Jill Biden wrote of her call with Melania Trump. "She said they were 'good,' and thanked me for calling."

So when it came time to share a car on Inauguration Day, Jill Biden said she anticipated an awkward ride.

A tense trip to the Capitol

Jill Biden and Melania Trump seen through a car window during their ride from the White House to the Capitol on Inauguration Day.

"Poor John had to figure out how to ease the tension and find a way to achieve some peace during that drive," Jill Biden wrote about Bessler acting as their escort. "He always seemed like a quiet, reserved Midwestern guy to me, but as soon as we got in, he started talking non-stop, bombarding us with questions."

Bessler inquired about Barron Trump's experience at New York University, where he is enrolled. Jill Biden asked how Melania Trump's father was coping since her mother's passing.

Melania Trump, she noted, "kept trying to steer the conversation towards the weather."

"I tried to go along with Melania's weather-focused conversation," Jill Biden wrote. "I mentioned feeling sorry for the military dogs we passed along the way because of the cold."

Shortly after Melania Trump responded that no, Barron Trump had never wanted a dog, the car finally reached the Capitol.