Jill Biden Recalls Inauguration Car Ride With Melania Trump—and Why the Interaction Stayed With Her

Chanel VargasFri, June 5, 2026 at 9:56 PM UTC

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Credit: Getty ImagesThe Gist -

Jill Biden, 75, released her memoir View From the East Wing on June 2.

In the memoir, Biden recalled a rare interaction with Melania Trump when the two shared a car from the White House to the Capitol on Inauguration Day.

According to Biden, the car ride was "frosty," and was "one of few interactions" she had with Trump.

Jill Biden is getting candid about her experience as the former First Lady. On June 2, Biden, 75, released her memoir, View From the East Wing, which chronicles her four years in the White House, including behind-the-scenes interactions that shaped her time as a key presidential advisor. One such interaction that stayed with Biden was a car ride alongside Melania Trump on the way to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2025.

In the book, Jill took a moment to detail the awkward dynamic between herself and Melania, who she had rarely ever interacted with leading up to the inauguration, according to Us Weekly.

"This would be one of few interactions Melania and I had ever had," Jill wrote of their ride from the White House to the U.S. Capitol. Prior to Inauguration Day, the two women had only ever interacted briefly at state funerals. Per presidential custom, Joe Biden and Trump also shared a car to the inauguration. "The presidents' car was likely frosty too, but at least they'd spent considerable time in each other's company," the former first lady added.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pose alongside President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump at the presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2025.Credit: Getty Images

The car ride was so tense, in fact, that Senator Amy Klobuchar's husband John Bessler was asked to sit in between Jill and Melania as a buffer, according to People. In her memoir, Jill joked that Bessler "must have drawn the shortest of all possible straws," and credited him for trying "to figure out how to break the tension and find some path to relative peace in the course of that drive."

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Bessler reportedly tried to make conversation with Melania about her son Barron, who began attending college just a few months earlier. Though, her responses with brief. Jill claimed, "Melania kept trying to switch the topic to the weather," which was below freezing on the day of the 2025 inauguration, according to Vanity Fair.

Jill went on to recount a phone call with Melania when she called to check in following an assassination attempt against the president in Butler, Pennsylvania. "She was polite and controlled as ever," Jill said. "She said they were 'good,' and thanked me for calling.'"

First Lady Melania Trump attends the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington, D.C. on April 25, 2026.Credit: Getty Images

Following Inauguration Day, Jill kept minimal contact with her successor.

Four years earlier, Melania famously denied Jill's invitation to attend an inaugural tea, breaking a long-standing tradition. As a result, the two did not share a motorcade to the Capitol in 2021.

Jill Biden speaks to Whoopi Goldberg about her memoir, "View From the East Wing" in New York City on June 2, 2026.Credit: Getty Images

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”