Chinese President Xi Jinping has reportedly rejected Donald Trump’s invitation for a history-making guest appearance at next month’s presidential inauguration.
The snub, reported by CBS News, will come as a blow to the president-elect and his plans for a spectacular swearing-in event on January 20 to mark his return to the White House.
A foreign head of state has never attended a U.S. inauguration, according to State Department records, but Trump has also invited Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentinean President Javier Milei, and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to turn it into a global event.
No explanation has been given for Xi’s decision not to travel to Washington. The invite was made just after Trump’s 2024 presidential election triumph.
“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,” his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday.
Despite Trump’s claims that he has a good relationship with the Chinese leader, his presidency begins with fears of a trade war with Beijing over punitive tariffs proposed during the presidential election campaign.
China is reportedly considering imposing its own tariffs in a bid to beat Trump to it and force him to the negotiating table.
U.S. intelligence has also revealed a hack linked to China of eight major U.S. telecom companies. Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state pick, called it “an egregious, outrageous and dangerous breach of our telecommunications systems across multiple companies.”
China’s ambassador to the U.S. is expected to attend the inauguration with his wife and CBS said additional officials may join their party.
It is normal for the bipartisan Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and the State Department to reach out and invite every nation’s chief of mission.
“Trump is very eager to have world leaders at the inauguration. He wants a global stage,” a Trump adviser told CNN.
The incoming president was typically bullish on Thursday, saying: “I’ve invited a lot of great people, and they’ve all accepted. Everybody I’ve invited has accepted.”
