President Donald Trump decided to ditch his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, this year to remain at the White House on Thanksgiving Day with his wife Melania Trump. While the reason for the change of plans remained undisclosed, the development came at a time when the U.S. grapples with rising coronavirus cases and Trump refused to concede to President-election Joe Biden alleging voter fraud.
Stephanie Grisham, the spokeswoman for the first lady, announced the Thanksgiving Day schedule on Twitter without providing further context. "The @POTUS & @flotus will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday at the @WhiteHouse this year," Grisham tweeted.
Ever since he assumed the office, Trump and the first lady spent their Thanksgiving Day and Christmas at the palatial property, dubbed as the "winter White House" during his presidency. The first couple has hosted their family and friends during the holidays for the past four years. However, the reason behind this year's change in the schedule remained unclear.
The change in Thanksgiving Day plans came as Trump refused to concede to Biden and alleged voter fraud in multiple states. This is likely to strengthen speculations that he will continue to remain at the White House even after Biden is sworn in as the country's 46th president in January.
Last week, the White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked if Trump would attend Biden's swear-in ceremony. She told Fox News: "I think the president will attend his own inauguration." The President-elect's campaign has said Biden would not shy away from getting federal law enforcement involved to remove Trump out of the White House.
The development also came as November saw a spike in coronavirus cases owing to the crucial presidential election. The country's coronavirus cases stood at more than 11 million with the last week reporting a record-break of one million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In October, Trump, Melania and their son Baron tested positive for coronavirus. The president returned to the White House after being treated for Covid-19 for three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland much to the concern of healthcare experts. Shortly before resuming his presidential campaign, he was tested negative for the virus. Melania and Baron have also since tested negative.
