1998 malibu won't shift into gear when cold outside?

My wife's 1998 Malibu has an automatic trans. When it gets cold outside my wife says she has to warm it up for 20-30 min to go from park to drive. The button will not push in to move the gear shift. When it’s warm outside it works fine. I even undid the safety switch where you don’t have to push on the brake to start it and it worked fine but, now that it’s cold again it’s doing it again. I even sprayed a little white grease down where the plastic shifter rod is below the shifter handle. Is there a solution to this and how? Help please. Thanks