Teresa Giudice and daughter Gia Giudice’s recent visit to the White House has fans wondering if it’s related to Joe Giudice’s hopes for a presidential pardon following his deportation.
According to President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant and senior advisor Lynne Patton, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 54, was in Washington, D.C. at the “invitation” of the president, 80, and First Lady Melania Trump alongside Gia, 25, in “honor of Columbus Day & Italian-American heritage.”
“I have known Teresa and her family, including @joe.giudice, for nearly two decades,” Patton, 53, wrote via Instagram on Monday, October 12, after the Bravolebrities were spotted at the White House that afternoon.
Patton explained that she has “attended family gatherings at their former New Jersey homes where Joe taught me how to roll meatballs & Teresa’s beloved father once showed me how to make his famous homemade wine.”
The aide noted, “I am not in charge of pardons. Nor do I decide who receives them. That is the President’s sole decision based upon recommendations from the White House Pardon Czar, @alicemariefree, and White House Counsel.”
Patton, who posed for photos with Teresa and Gia during their trip, added that she does “believe deeply in second chances.” (Gia wrote a letter to the president in summer 2025 asking for her father, 54, after he was deported to Italy after serving time in prison on federal fraud charges. Joe, who shares four daughters with ex-wife Teresa is now living in the Bahamas unable to return to America where his children reside.)
She shared that Trump and his family gave her “one or 10” second chances after she relapsed with her cocaine addiction in 2013 while working at the Trump Organization.
Teresa Giudice, Gia Giudice and Lynne Patton (far right). Courtesy of Lynne Patton/Instagram
Patton revealed that after the president’s son Eric Trump and then-girlfriend and now-wife Lara Trump held “an emotional intervention” for her, she has now been 13 years drug free — and she was able to keep her job and work her way up to deputy assistant.
“It rebuilt my determination to succeed & help others do the same,” she said of the process. “With that said, my faith in God compels me to believe that a father’s place is in the home. Statistics confirm the same.”
Patton added that the bible also backs her belief in second chances, saying that “quality time is everything,” before circling back to Joe, who asked for a presidential pardon in June 2025.
“Do I believe that Joe deserves a second chance? Unfortunately, it is not my place to decide,” Patton continued. “But what I do know is that one of his beautiful daughters desperately needs him now more than ever. And even God supports that.”
The Giudice family was grateful for Patton’s kind words, with Joe, Teresa and Gia all replying in the comments section.
“Your the best ❤️❤️❤️❤️,” Joe wrote, while his ex-wife added, “❤️❤️❤️.”
Gia also responded in the comments, writing, “Thank you Lynn♥️🙏🏼.”
Gia and Joe Giudice. Courtesy of Joe Giudice/Instagram
Patton’s update on Joe’s case comes more than one year after he asked the president for a chance to be pardoned and return to the U.S. following his deportation in 2019.
A decade prior, Joe and Teresa filed for bankruptcy in 2009, claiming they had an $11 million debt. The pair were indicted on fraud charges five years later and eventually pleaded guilty.
Teresa served 11 months of a 15-month sentence in prison from January to December 2015. Joe, meanwhile, served 41 months in prison and was sent back to his native Italy upon his release.
Real Housewives of New Jersey star and actress Teresa Giudice hasn’t become a stranger to the friends she made while behind bars. During a Wednesday, September 24, appearance on “The Viall Files” podcast, Giudice, 53, told the show’s host she keeps in touch with a handful of the women she met in prison, despite the […]
Teresa filed for divorce from Joe after his release in 2019 and it was finalized in 2020. Despite moving on and marrying Luis Ruelas in 2022, Teresa has been supportive of her family’s desire to get Joe a pardon.
“I’m Joe Giudice. I served my time, and I’ve been deported from the U.S. for nearly a decade,” Joe wrote via Instagram in June 2025 in his plea to the president. “I was raised in Jersey, I’m a father of four amazing daughters, and I just want to be allowed to visit them again.”
Teresa commented on the post, writing, “🙏❤️.”
