Michelle Obama Is 'Not One to Pretend for Protocol's Sake,' Source Says About Her Skipping Trump's Inauguration (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Shortly afterMichelle Obamaannounced her plan to stay home duringDonald Trump’s inauguration, a source familiar with her thinking tells PEOPLE that the former first lady would not want to fake a smile for someone whom she still considers a threat to American democracy.

“There’s no overstating her feelings about [Trump]. She’s not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocol’s sake,” the source says. “Michelle doesn’t do anything because it’s expected or it’s protocol or it’s tradition.”

“She served in the public eye and did all the public good that she could for eight years as first lady,” the source says of her fulfilling her official responsibilities in 2017. “You’ll see her when she has a project or cause to promote but she doesn’t feel the need to be a public figure anymore.”

Michelle and Barack Obama prepare to leave the White House on Jan. 20, 2017, as Donald and Melania Trump move in.Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty

Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty

On Jan. 14, the former first lady’s office confirmed to PEOPLE that she would not join her husband, former PresidentBarack Obama, at Trump’s inauguration.

Days earlier, she alsomissed former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, where she would have been seated beside President-elect Trump. Her advisers attributed her unexpected absence to a scheduling conflict, stating that she was in Hawaii on an extended vacation, according to CNN’sJeff Zeleny.

First and second families gather at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9, 2025.Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Historically, presidential funerals and inaugurations are occasions when former presidents and first ladies come together in honor of the nation’s highest office.

Trump threw a wrench in that long-standing tradition after losing his 2020 reelection bid, when herefused to attendthe inauguration of his opponent,Joe Biden. Trump’s absence four years ago marked the first time since 1869 that a president refused to attend their successor’s swearing-in.

With roles reversed in 2025, Biden expressed a desire to return to normalcy, aiming to put past tensions behind him and pass the baton back to Trump in person on Jan. 20.

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Former first lady Michelle Obama.Hannah Beier/getty

Hannah Beier/getty

PEOPLE’s source says thatthe death of Michelle’s mother, Marian Robinson, in 2024 has weighed heavy on the Obamas in recent months, suggesting that celebrating their first holidays without Robinson may have amplified a sense that self-care and quality time with family are more important than tense political appearances.

“It’s been an emotional time for her,” the source says. “The holidays were always a time for family in Hawaii.”

In December, Michelle teared up onThe Jennifer Hudson Showafter bringing up her mother, saying that Robinson inspired her new self-help guide,Overcoming: A Workbook.

“The beauty of this book was that I was able to write a love letter to my mom,” she told Hudson, adding that it’s sprinkled with “the common sense wisdom she left me with, like, ‘Your voice matters, I see you, you got power.’ "

source: people.com