Where Did Jill And Joe Biden Go After The Inauguration? What We Know
Donald Trump broke a number of inauguration day traditions in 2021 with Joe Biden; however, many of them were reestablished when Donald took office in 2025. Joe and Donald rode together to the U.S. Capitol, and Joe and Jill Biden both stayed for Trump's swearing in before leaving town. Donald chose to skip Joe's inauguration entirely four years before, when he and Melania Trump headed to their home in Mar-a-Lago the morning of the event. This time, Joe and Jill didn't go to their lakefront house in Delaware, where they're presumed to be taking up residence after their time in the White House.
Instead, they went to Santa Ynez in Santa Barbara County, also in the heart of one of California's underrated wine regions. The Bidens are said to be staying at the estate of friend Joe Kiani, founder of Masimo Corporation. This isn't their first time visiting the area; it's where they went after the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where Biden reiterated his endorsement of Kamala Harris for the Democratic candidate for president.
Joe and Jill Biden's trip to California is applauded by some fans
On the evening of January 20, Joe and Jill Biden were seen landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base in the Santa Ynez Valley, in what is presumably their last flight on the presidential plane. For the trip, the plane was not referred to as "Air Force One" per usual, but as "Special Air Mission 46" since Joe was no longer president. It's unclear how long Joe and Jill will be unwinding and relaxing out of the spotlight in California, but some people are definitely excited to know they're there.
One person on X (formerly known as Twitter) wrote: "Wish they would have let us greet him. Very excited they are back in my county." One Santa Barbara resident told KEYT, "Where else to go to relax with wine and sunshine and California beauty?"
Former vice president Kamala Harris was also California bound after the inauguration; she's going to visit some of the areas impacted by the devastating Los Angeles fires. Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff have a home in Brentwood, a neighborhood that was under an evacuation order; however, their house hasn't been reported as having suffered any damage.