Melania Trump didn't know whether she'd be attending Biden's inauguration until the president tweeted that he'd be skipping it

<p>ia n<img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/60006307fe7e140019f7ee9a-2400/GettyImages-654586832.jpg" border="0" alt="Melania Trump" data-mce-source="Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Melania wearing a red coat dress which Vogue noted was reminiscent of the gown Nancy Reagan wore for her husband's swearing in ceremony."></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>First Lady Melania Trump found out that she won't be attending President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration the same way the rest of us did: via her husband's Twitter account, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/14/politics/melania-trump-impeachment-donald-trump-riot/index.html">reported</a> on Thursday.&nbsp;</p><p>Melania wasn't sure whether the president would break from long-standing tradition and symbolically undermine the peaceful transfer of power by refusing to attend the inauguration, despite media reports that he would do so. She found out she and her husband would break the norm when Trump tweeted about it on January 8.&nbsp;</p><p>"It's not the first time she has learned what he was doing because he tweeted it before he told her," a top White House staffer told CNN.&nbsp;</p><p>The first lady has remained largely silent on her husband's months-long campaign to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but appeared to support his efforts by calling for "fair elections" following Trump's loss.&nbsp;</p><p>"The American people deserve fair elections," she tweeted the day after news outlets declared Biden the president-elect. "Every legal - not illegal - vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency."</p><p>But even as Trump fights to stay in the White House, Melania has spent the last two months <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/politics/melania-trump-future/index.html">preparing for life after Washington</a>. She has been packing up and shipping the family's belongings, sending them to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach and into storage, and arranging for Barron to attend school in Florida.&nbsp;</p><p>After remaining silent for five days following the pro-Trump insurrection at the Capitol, the first lady <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melania-trump-gossip-typo-filled-remarks-about-capitol-coup-attempt-2021-1">released a statement on Monday</a> expressing sympathy for the rioters and police officers who died last Wednesday and attacking critics for spreading "salacious gossip" about her.&nbsp;</p><p>"I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on mefrom people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda," she said.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melania-trump-gossip-typo-filled-remarks-about-capitol-coup-attempt-2021-1" >Melania Trump breaks her silence about the deadly coup attempt with complaints about 'salacious gossip' in a typo-filled statement</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melania-trump-learned-she-wouldnt-attend-inauguration-from-trumps-tweet-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melissa-maker-clean-your-home-quickly-cleaning-expert-2017-4">A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly</a></p>
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