PNN – US President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened Beijing with heavy tariffs, has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration ceremony, an American media reported.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, multiple sources told CBS News that Trump has invited the Chinese president to attend his inauguration ceremony next month, and that inauguration officials are planning more foreign dignitaries to attend.
The sources said Trump invited Xi in early November, shortly after the election, but it is unclear whether he accepted the invitation. The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington has not yet commented on this matter.
In addition to Xi Jinping, the US President-elect’s team has raised the possibility of hosting other leaders in Congress on January 20. Hungarian far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has warm ties to Trump and met with him at his Mara Lago residence this week, is still considering attending the inauguration, according to a source familiar with the matter.
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Carolyn Leavitt, spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, however, claimed: World leaders are lining up to meet with President Trump because they know he will soon return to power and restore peace through American power around the world.
According to a CBS report, ambassadors and other diplomats are usually invited to inaugurations, but State Department records dating back to 1874 show that a foreign leader has never attended an inauguration.
Members of Trump’s inner circle, including Senator Marco Rubio, the choice for US Secretary of State, and Mike Waltz, the future National Security Adviser, are still fierce critics of Xi’s administration.
But Trump has also long believed that close relations between leaders are the key to international agreement. Since Election Day, world leaders have traveled to Mara Lago to meet with Trump, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Javier Milli, the president of Argentina, also had a private conversation with the president-elect.
French President Emmanuel Macron was the first world leader to host Trump abroad since he won the 2024 election. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prince William were also present at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.