Trump invites China’s Xi Jinping to inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, multiple sources told CBS News, and inauguration officials are making plans for additional foreign dignitaries to attend the swearing-in ceremony. 

Trump invited Xi in early November, shortly after the election, sources said, but it was not clear whether he has accepted the invitation. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told CBS News on Thursday that Trump invited Xi to the inauguration. She told Fox News on Thursday that it is an example of Trump “creating an open dialogue with  leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors too.”

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. 

“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 said. 

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. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that it’s “going to be up to President-elect Trump to decide who’s going to sit there with him at the inauguration, who’s going to be there.” 

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. 

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was the first world leader to host Trump overseas since he won the 2024 election. Also in attendance at the Paris reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and Prince William. 

Trump was mostly unknown on the world stage at his first inauguration in 2017. This time, world leaders are treating Trump essentially as an incumbent.

contributed to this report.