- In her new memoir, Melania Trump says the Obamas’ team didn’t arrange visits to the White House.
- Trump writes that the White House had an air of “neglect” when she moved in.
- Trump and her son, Barron, didn’t actually move into the White House until June.
Melania Trump‘s new memoir, “Melania,” is light on marital and political details, but leaves little room for imagination regarding White House renovations she made. The former First Lady reveled in the opportunity to upgrade a home where “a sense of neglect lingered in the air,” but she says that the Obamas made the process difficult.
In a section of the slim, 182-page memoir about moving to the White House, Trump says that “protocols and politics” thwarted her plans to prepare the residence. She said her family could not access the building in December, as requested.
“Despite reaching out to the Obamas’ team and requesting a convenient time for our visit, we did not receive a response for weeks,” Trump writes. “When we finally received the information, it was filled with errors. This delayed the planning process, and I was only able to begin renovations after the inauguration, once we were already in the White House.”
Though she called former First Lady Michelle Obama “cordial and pleasant” earlier in the memoir, Trump seemed to take issue not only with the transition process, but the state of the house itself.
Trump oversaw extensive renovations, as she found the previous style was “outdated.” With the help of New York-based designer Tham Kannalikham, Trump updated various rooms, the tennis pavilion, and the Rose Garden.
“While some first families are content to simply live in the historic residence, my approach was different,” she said.
The three winter weeks where Trump couldn’t access the White House “would have been crucial” for the renovations, she writes. The former first lady and her son, Barron Trump, didn’t actually move into the residence until June.
Spokespeople for the Obamas did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
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