U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign leaders to his January 20 inauguration, but it is not known yet whether any of them plan to attend the ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News it was yet “to be determined” whether Xi will accept Trump’s invitation, which was extended in early November, shortly after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris for a new four-year term in the White House.
She did not name other world leaders who have been invited. Typically, foreign ambassadors to Washington and other diplomats have witnessed the peaceful quadrennial transfers of U.S. presidential power but not heads of government. State Department records dating to 1874 show that no foreign leader has attended a U.S. presidential inauguration.
But Leavitt said the invitations to the noontime outdoor ceremony in six weeks are “an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too. He is willing to talk to anyone, and he will always put America’s interests first.”
If Xi travels to Washington, it could provide a first opportunity during Trump’s second presidential term for the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies to discuss contentious trade and military issues.
Trump has threatened to impose massive tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States, partly to push Beijing to curb the deadly flow of fentanyl into the U.S. and to boost the sale of U.S. products in China.
The U.S. has imposed a January 19 deadline, the eve of the inauguration, for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media app or face a ban in the U.S. TikTok is fighting the ban in court; it lost a bid last week to block the ban but is appealing the case to the Supreme Court.
Trump on Thursday, during an appearance at the New York Stock Exchange, where he was ringing the bell to open the market, said he’s been “thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration” without referring to any specific individuals.
“And some people said, ‘Wow, that’s a little risky, isn’t it?'” Trump said. “And I said, ‘Maybe it is. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens.’ But we like to take little chances.”
The Kremlin separately on Thursday said President Vladimir Putin, at war with U.S.-supported Ukraine for nearly three years, has not received an inaugural invitation.
Since his election victory, Trump has met or talked with several world leaders, including visits with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Argentine President Javier Milei, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida oceanside retreat.
In addition, Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Britian’s Prince William in Paris last weekend at the reopening of the refurbished Notre Dame Cathedral, much of which was gutted by a fire five years ago.
“World leaders are lining up to meet with President Trump because they know he will soon return to power and restore peace through American strength around the globe,” Leavitt said.
