President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration in January, though it’s unclear whether the foreign leader will attend or not.
CBS News reports the invitation came shortly after Trump won the Nov. 5 election.
In addition to Xi, the president-elect's team has raised the possibility of hosting other leaders at the Capitol on Jan. 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, is "still considering" whether to attend, according to a source familiar with Orbán's plans. […]
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 sharp critics of Xi's government, including Sen. Marco Rubio, his pick to be secretary of state, and incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Trump himself has threatened to increase tariffs on goods from China. The U.S. has imposed a deadline of Jan. 19, the eve of the inauguration, for TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app or face a ban in the U.S. TikTok is fighting the ban in court — it lost a bid last week to block the ban but is appealing the case to the Supreme Court.
But Trump has also long believed that close leader-to-leader relationships are key to international deal-making. Since Election Day, world leaders have trekked to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Argentina's president, Javier Milei, has also been granted private audiences with the president-elect. (CBS News)
“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 globe," Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told CBS.
Trump recently told NBC on "Meet the Press" that he "got along" with Xi "very well" and spoke with him last week.
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