Melania Trump ‘didn’t write thank you notes’ to staff before leaving White House

Melania Trump did not write her own ‘thank you’ notes to the White House staff who have cared for her family for the last four years, reports claim.

Instead, the outgoing First Lady had staff write notes to some 80 staff who took care of the Trumps and their official residence.

She and husband Donald Trump left the White House for the last time on Wednesday as President Joe Biden was sworn in.

They broke with tradition to snub his ceremony, as the Trumps staged their own send-off at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland then fled Washington DC for Florida.

US media reported Melania would not be giving her successor Jill Biden a tour of the White House, in another major break with First Lady custom.

According to CNN, White House staff received typed notes from the First Lady they had initially thought were written by her.

However, according to two sources with knowledge of the note, she had out-sourced the task to an East Wing staffer.

It is reportedly said to be customary for First Ladies to write personal notes to White House staff when the family leaves the residence.

Sometimes staff who have grown particularly close with the First Family will get lengthier letters, featuring personal stories.

According to CNN, the butlers, cooks, housekeepers, ushers and maintenance workers often don’t change between leaders, and many had been there for longer than a decade.

The messages are often cherished by the staffers for years, and have historic value.

But according to the broadcaster, sources said by the day it became time for Melania to leave, she had already “checked out,” “just wants to go home,” and was “not sad to be leaving” Washington and the White House.

Melania is said to have tasked the staffer to write the notes “in her voice,” then signed her name to them.

The First Lady has spent relatively little time living at the White House, compared to previous leaders’ families.

She courted controversy in the early years of Trump’s presidency by opting to stay at her home in Manhattan, with son Barron.

The family also regularly stayed at the ‘Winter White House’ resort in Mar-a-Lago.

The Trumps’ to keep up their residences in New York and Florida sparked security sagas early on.

Many Americans were outraged by the cost to taxpayers lumped with the security bill for covering Melania’s decision to stay in Manhattan with the couple’s young son.

CNN reported she did lead the return to the White House to pack the Trumps’ possessions in recent weeks.

She was said to have overseen the packing, after spending the turbulent period since her husband lost the election in relative silence.

Melania had participated in just five public events since Election Day, including the turkey pardon, and the arrival of the White House Christmas tree.