Trump’s inauguration will be first in U.S. history attended by foreign leaders

For the first time in U.S. history, a president-elect will host foreign leaders in one of the most American political traditions: the peaceful transfer of power.

President-elect Donald Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping and world conservative leaders such as Argentine President Javier Milei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to the inauguration. Xi sends his vice president as his representative.

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No head of state has yet made an official visit to the United States for the inauguration. Some of them, like Milei and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, were special guests at the Hispanic Inaugural Ball Saturday night, where several of Trump’s nominees for key Cabinet positions made appearances. Among them, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, chosen to lead the State Department, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Here’s a look at the foreign leaders who will be heading to Washington for the 60th inauguration.

China

Chinese President Xi Jinping was the first foreign leader whose inauguration invitation was made public in December. Xi will not attend but is sending Vice President Han Zheng.

The announcement of Han’s dispatch was made Friday by the country’s Foreign Ministry, and it comes as rivalry between the United States and China could intensify under Trump. Several of Trump’s Cabinet picks are known hawks on China, including Rubio, who has called China “the most powerful, most dangerous, and closest adversary this nation has ever faced.”

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Trump has pledged to impose tariffs and other measures on China. But the two leaders spoke on the phone Friday and discussed commerce, fentanyl and TikTok. Trump said the call was “very good.”

Argentina

Milei was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after the Nov. 5 election, traveling from Buenos Aires to the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club.

Milei was scheduled to attend three inaugural galas over the weekend and one of the official inaugural balls that Trump will attend on Inauguration Day, as well as the inauguration ceremony.

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The Argentine leader describes himself as an “anarcho-capitalist”. He frequently receives praise from billionaire Elon Musk, who has moved closer to Trump since the election, for implementing a series of austerity measures that have laid off tens of thousands of civil servants and frozen infrastructure projects. and imposed a freeze on salaries and pensions below inflation.

Musk will lead a non-governmental effort to cut federal government spending, regulations and staffing.

Milei hopes good relations with the United States could help Argentina reach a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

Italy

Meloni is another leader who recently visited Mar-a-Lago. Her weekly calendar indicates that she will attend the swearing-in ceremony.

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Meloni has surprisingly enjoyed a good relationship with Democratic President Joe Biden, but is likely to form a more natural alliance with Trump. She is considered a key interlocutor between Europe and the United States.

Georgia

Georgia’s pro-Western former president, Salome Zourabichvili, will attend the ceremony as the guest of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. Georgia has been rocked by protests following parliamentary elections that opposition groups have called rigged.

She said she was still the legitimate leader of the former Soviet republic after the inauguration of Mikheil Kavelashvili as president late last month, from a party that critics accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian and leaning in favor of Moscow. Kavelashvili’s ruling party has denied the accusations.

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Zourabichvili told Fox News that Georgia could be “America’s big success or big problem” in the region because “Russia is still trying to dominate.”

France

French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with Trump last month in Paris at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, will not be present at Trump’s inauguration. But far-right figures in the country have said they will travel for the inauguration.

Eric Zemmour, a talk show pundit turned conservative politician, and his partner, Sarah Knafo, a member of the European Parliament, said they would attend. Zemmour has been convicted on several occasions of inciting racist or religious hatred.

Prominent far-right politician Marion Maréchal said in a statement that she would also attend. She is an MEP and niece of the main French conservative figure who is aiming for the 2027 presidential election.

Who else?

The offices of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña said they had been invited to the inauguration and planned to attend.

Taiwan sent Parliament Speaker Han Kuo-yu and seven others to Washington for Trump’s inauguration, but Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said its delegates would not attend the ceremony now that it has been moved indoors due to cold.

Taiwan’s official news agency, citing Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also reported that the delegates would meet with American politicians and think tank academics to cement relations between Taiwan and the United States. It is unclear whether they will meet with Trump.

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Trump has criticized Taiwan for taking away part of the United States’ semiconductor industry, but relations between the United States and Taiwan have also improved significantly during his first term.

In a phone call Friday between Trump and Xi, the Chinese president urged the new US leader to approach the Taiwan issue “with caution” as it touches on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Beijing claims the autonomous island as Chinese territory and promises to annex it by force if necessary.

Associated Press writers Didi Tang, Sylvie Corbet and Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Washington, Paris and Rome.