Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s traditional inaugural lunch, various sources told NBC News.
Obama received an invitation but declined to attend, according to a source familiar with the matter. Clinton also was invited but does not plan to attend, according to a second source familiar with the matter, while Bush’s office said that it was not tracking an invitation to the luncheon.
Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton also received an invitation to the inaugural luncheon but will not attend, according to a third source familiar with the matter.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the luncheon absences.
All three former presidents, however, will attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony earlier in the day, according to their teams. The former first ladies will also attend the swearing-in ceremony except for former first lady Michelle Obama, according to the Obamas’ office. No reason was provided. Michelle Obama also did not attend the funeral service last week for former President Jimmy Carter, making her the only absence among all living current and former presidents and first ladies.
Inauguration Day marks one of the only occasions when all former living presidents usually congregate to usher in the next administration. Trump, however, declined to attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
None of the former living presidents supported Trump’s candidacy. Bush did not make an endorsement, and Obama and Clinton actively campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Clintons attended the luncheon in 2017 after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. During the luncheon, Trump encouraged a standing ovation for Hillary Clinton, who ran against him in the 2016 election.
“I was very honored, very, very honored when I heard that President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton was coming today,” Trump said at the time.
The inaugural luncheon tradition stems from a lunch hosted by the Senate Committee on Arrangements in 1897 for then-President William McKinley and guests at the Capitol, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), which hosts the luncheon.
In 1953, the JCCIC began hosting the luncheon for the incoming president, vice president and their guests. During the lunch, politicians typically deliver speeches and toast the new administration.
