Melania Trump made headlines by declining an invitation from Jill Biden for a traditional White House meeting, citing what she views as the Biden administration’s past intrusions, specifically the Mar-a-Lago raid.

“She ain’t going,” a source familiar with Melania’s decision told The New York Post, alluding to Melania’s frustration over the FBI’s 2022 search of her personal belongings. According to the source, Melania sees no need to meet with Jill Biden, especially given the political and personal tensions that have accumulated between the Trumps and Bidens over recent years.

This decision breaks from a decades-old tradition where the outgoing first lady meets the incoming one for tea and a White House tour. Following Trump’s 2016 election, Melania herself had visited the White House for a tour with then-First Lady Michelle Obama, despite the political divisions between their husbands.

After Trump’s 2020 loss, however, the White House was notably closed to the Bidens for a similar visit, marking a break in protocol—a trend that appears set to continue with Melania’s decision this year.

President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, will proceed with a face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office. This meeting follows another unique chapter in modern presidential history, as Biden and Trump are both former and future occupants of the White House.

For Biden, this encounter may come with mixed emotions, as he once defeated Trump in 2020, only to face him again in this year’s election. Despite his reluctance, Biden has vowed to uphold the transition’s integrity, stating, “I assured him that I’d direct my entire administration to work with his team.”

Historian Jim Bendat called such meetings “healthy for democracy,” praising Biden’s decision to uphold this aspect of the transition. Yet this meeting may lack the cooperative tone of previous handoffs, as Trump’s entry into office has often disrupted these norms.

After his 2016 victory, Trump had met with then-President Obama for a lengthy Oval Office conversation, where Obama expressed his hopes for Trump’s success. That encounter, civil at the time, quickly gave way to friction as Trump accused Obama of wiretapping him—a claim made without evidence, igniting early tension.

While the outgoing presidents’ office meet-ups have run the gamut from cordial to tense, they typically signify the peaceful transfer of power—an American tradition dating back to the earliest years of the republic. Though formal transition protocols don’t require these face-to-face meetings, many consider them an important symbolic gesture.

As former Vice President Walter Mondale once described, these encounters help facilitate “the psychological transfer” of presidential responsibility.