President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, multiple sources told CBS News, and inauguration officials anticipate other foreign dignitaries will attend the inauguration ceremony .
Trump invited Xi in early November, shortly after electionsources said, but it was not clear whether he had accepted the invitation. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington had no immediate comment.
In addition to Xi, the president-elect’s team has discussed the possibility of welcoming other leaders to the Capitol on January 20. Hungary’s far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has a warm relationship with Trump and visited him at Mar-a-Lago this week, “still considering” attending, according to a source familiar with Orbán’s plans.
“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 world,” the transition spokesperson said. Trump, Karoline Leavitt.
Ambassadors and other diplomats are typically invited to inaugurations, but State Department records dating back to 1874 show that a foreign leader has never attended a transfer of power ceremony.
Members of Trump’s inner circle remain staunch critics of Xi’s government, including Senator Marco Rubiohis choice to be secretary of state, and new national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Trump himself threatened to increase prices on goods from China. The United States has set a deadline of January 19, the day before the inauguration, for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell social media app or face a US ban TikTok is fighting the ban in court – it last week lost an attempt to block the ban, but appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
But Trump has also long believed that close relationships between leaders are essential to reaching international agreements. Since Election Day, world leaders have traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Argentina’s President, Javier Milei, was also granted private audiences with the president-elect.
Emmanuel Macron, President of France, was the first world leader to welcome Trump abroad since his victory in the 2024 election. Also present at the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris were Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and Prince William.
Trump was essentially unknown on the world stage when he was first inaugurated in 2017. This time, world leaders are treating Trump essentially as an incumbent president.
Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
