Former and incoming First Lady Melania Trump recently sat down for another interview with Fox News Channel’s Ainsley Earhardt. In it, she spoke about her and President-elect Donald Trump’s highly anticipated return to the White House next week. When outlining the itinerary after Trump’s inauguration, Melania explained that the transition team has approximately five hours to get the Biden’s out and the Trump family back in.
Earhardt initially asked Melania what she expected the transition to be like, considering it wasn’t their first go-round. “Behind the scenes, what is it like when you’re moving back in the White House? What’s different this time?” The first lady responded, “The difference is I know where I will be going. I know the rooms where we will be leaving. I know the process.”
Explaining how it will be different compared to 2017, Melania added, “The first time was challenging. We didn’t have much of the information. The information was upheld for us from the previous administration. But this time I have everything. I have the plans I could move in. I already packed, I already selected the furniture that needs to go in. So it’s, it’s a very different transition this time, the second time around.”
Wondering how the coordination with the Biden’s has gone, Earhardt added, “How have the Biden’s been? Have they been accommodating, and are they still living there?” Confirming that President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have not vacated the White House, she said, “They’re still living there, and they will be out on January 20.”
Furthermore, Melania explained the tight window the transition team is working with, requiring extreme attention to detail. “So what happened is, on January 20, the transition team has only five hours to move Biden’s out and to move us in,” Melania said, before illustrating the micromanagement that must occur. “So everything needs to be planned to the minute.”
Earhardt then inquired if Melania felt she was in a “different space” than she was eight years ago, where so much has transpired in the years between. The first lady answered, “I feel I was always me the first time as well. I just feel that people didn’t accept me. Maybe they didn’t understand me the way maybe they do now, and I didn’t have much support.”
She continued, “Maybe some people, they see me as just the wife of the president, but I’m standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts. I have my own yes and no, I don’t always agree what my husband is saying or doing, and that’s okay.” Earhardt then asked, “Are you able to tell him when you disagree?” Melania replied, “I gave him my advice,” prompting a chuckle. “And sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t, and that’s okay.”
"*" indicates required fields
Moreover, Melania explained how she seeks to complete her team, but take her time in the hiring process.
“Establish my team, I have a few positions that I still need to hire. I will not rush into that. I will see when I’m in the White House and what it’s needed. I don’t want to hire too many people on my team and spending too much taxpayer money. I want to make sure that every every position, they are talented, they have married, they know what they doing, and as well as they are team player, they don’t have own agenda. So they serving me, they serving my office, and they serving the country,” she said.
Watch Melania below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.