Trump's inauguration will be first attended by foreign leaders

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

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

No heads of state have previously made an official visit to the U.S. for the inauguration. Some of them, such as Milei and Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña, were special guests Saturday night at the Hispanic Inaugural Ball, where several of Trump’s nominees for key Cabinet positions made appearances. That included U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, chosen to lead the State Department, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tapped to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Here is a look at the foreign leaders who are coming to Washington for the 60th inauguration:

China

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

The announcement to dispatch Han was made Friday by the country’s foreign ministry, and it comes as the rivalry between the U.S. and China may escalate under Trump. Several of Trump’s Cabinet picks are known China hawks, including Rubio, who has called China ‘’the most potent, dangerous and near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.‘’

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 is scheduled to attend one of the official inaugural balls that Trump will attend on Inauguration Day, as well as the swearing-in ceremony. The self-described ‘’anarcho-capitalist,‘’ who has carried out an audacious economic agenda in the South American nation, got a hug from Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump insider, on stage at Hispanic ball before delivering remarks.

Ramaswamy called him ‘’an inspiration.‘’ Milei also receives praise frequently from billionaire Elon Musk for implementing a series of austerity measures that laid off tens of thousands of government workers, froze public infrastructure projects and imposed wage and pension freezes below inflation.

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

Italy

Meloni is another leader who has recently visited Mar-a-Lago. Her weekly agenda says she will attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Meloni kept unexpectedly good relations 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 U.S.

Georgia

Pro-Western former Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili will attend the ceremony as a guest of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C. Georgia has been wracked by protests following a parliamentary election that opposition groups alleged was rigged.

Zourabichvili told Fox News that Georgia could be ‘’the big success for America or the big problem for America'' in the region because ‘’Russia is always trying to dominate.‘’

France

French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with Trump last month in Paris during the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening, won’t be at Trump’s inauguration. But far-right figures from the country have said they are traveling 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 will attend. Zemmour was convicted multiple times of inciting racist or religious hatred.

Prominent far-right politician Marion Maréchal said in a statement that she would go as well. She is a member of the European Parliament and niece of the leading conservative figure in France eyeing the 2027 presidential election.

The offices of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña have said they were invited to the inauguration and planned to attend.

Peña, a conservative economist turned politician, praised Trump’s agenda and said at the Hispanic ball that he hoped for deeper ties between U.S. and Latin America.

Taiwan sent legislative 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 because of cold weather.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency, citing Taiwan’s foreign ministry, also reported that the delegates would meet American politicians and think tank scholars to cement Taiwan-U.S. relations. It’s unclear if they will meet Trump.

Trump has criticized Taiwan for pulling some of the semiconductor industry from the U.S., but U.S.-Taiwan relations also significantly improved during his first term.

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