Trump offers inauguration invites to foreign leaders through calls and back channels
Donald Trump, eager to turn his inauguration into a global event, is personally extending invitations to some foreign leaders, including heads of state that have clashed with the United States in the recent past.
Already, Trump has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his swearing in, his transition team confirmed Thursday, an exceptionally rare offer extended to the communist leader of one of America’s chief geopolitical rivals.
“This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said during an appearance Thursday on Fox News.
A delegation of senior Chinese officials is expected to attend in place of Xi, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentinean President Javier Milei have also been invited by Trump or his team, sources confirmed to CNN. All three are close allies of Trump who have also shaken the nerves of the US and its allies at times for their embrace of strongman tactics and their far-right politics.
The offers to attend his Washington fêting have been mostly informal, a person with knowledge of the conversations told CNN, and have sometimes come in passing during discussions over the phone about other matters. The person also said that some invitations have gone through back channels, not directly leader-to-leader.
Trump has also dictated written invitations as well, a source familiar with the matter said, and had his team send them to foreign leaders.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions about what other leaders he invited. On Thursday, the president-elect suggested he may invite other foreign leaders people told him may be “a little risky.”
“We like to take little chances,” Trump said. “But that’s not a bad chance
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