The inauguration is coming: who Trump will be happy to see on January 20
17 January 08:49
Donald Trump’s guest list for his inauguration as US president on January 20 resembles a global “Who’s Who” of right-wing populists. Politico writes about this, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to the publication, inaugurations are a traditional flag-waving event and an important democratic procedure, but for the local public. Foreign diplomats usually attend the event as a courtesy, but as for heads of state and government, they usually do not participate.
Trump is certainly no stranger to tradition, Politico notes, and he has invited many foreign leaders whom he has spoken to on the phone or met in person at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, such as Argentine President Javier Milea and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
As Trump’s new press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, explained to Fox News, the invitation to the inauguration by Chinese leader Xi showed “Trump’s willingness to engage in open dialogue.” By the way, this invitation clearly took Chinese diplomats by surprise, as the Beijing Embassy in Washington has not yet confirmed whether it has actually received an official invitation from Xi Jinping to attend and whether Xi has responded.
Who is invited and intends to attend the inauguration
The list of guests is headed by leaders such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentine President Javier Milei, a Trump-style populist who won the Argentine presidential election in 2023. The latter confirmed his presence a month ago.

Georgia Maloney, who visited Mar-a-Lago earlier this month and was called a “fantastic woman” by Trump, has received an invitation and will attend the ceremony if her schedule allows it, according to her office. Also among the invitees is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been called the “bad guy” of European politics. But, as Orban’s office told the Hungarian media, he will not be able to make it to the event. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also apparently not going to attend the inauguration, not because she can’t, but because, as Politico notes, she was clearly not invited.
As for other officials, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwai will attend the inauguration. The transitional administration has invited El Salvador’s President Nayiba Buchele, who has not yet confirmed his attendance, and Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, who will attend the ceremony during a short visit to Washington.
There will be many special guests at the inauguration
In addition to billionaire Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Meth CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the ceremony will also be attended by tech moguls from overseas, such as French billionaire and tech entrepreneur Xavier Niel and his wife.
From the United Kingdom, Trump’s transition team invited not only Ambassador to the United States Karen Pierce, but also the leader of the Reform Party, Nigel Farage. From France, anti-immigrant politician and author of the apocalyptic bestseller The French Suicide, Eric Zemmour, confirmed his presence. And these are not all the far-right populists Trump would like to see at his ceremony.
Also attending Trump’s inauguration will be Tom Van Grieken, leader of the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has been in a long-running dispute with Brussels over the rule of law.

Some members of Trump’s team opened their arms to Germany’s far-right by inviting the leader of the Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidel. But her office, according to Politico, said that she would not be able to attend due to her busy campaign schedule.
The leader of the Spanish ultranationalist Vox party, Santiago Abascal, was also invited to the ceremony. The head of the right-wing populist party Chega, Andre Ventura, received an invitation from Portugal. Some other European far-right figures have also received invitations to the inauguration.
By the way, in his farewell speech as president, Joe Biden did not report so much as warn America, stating that the man who is about to take the presidency is an “existential threat to the nation.” In Biden’s view, the threat is so great that he even called for a change in the U.S. Constitution “to make clear that no president is immune from the crimes he or she commits while in office. Biden said that “an oligarchy is forming in America” as power and money are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few.