Trump inauguration outreach 'so informal that even close aides' don’t know who he’s inviting

13 December 2024

Donald Trump’s “informal” inauguration invitations to foreign leaders have at times baffled even his close aides, CNN reports.

Kristen Holmes on Friday spoke with CNN’s Manu Raju to discuss Trump’s invitation for China’s Xi Jinping, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among others, to attend his Jan. 20 inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. According to Holmes, the former president “and his team are essentially reaching out directly to these foreign leaders.”

“This is a little bit unprecedented,” Holmes explained. “It's not how it usually works. Foreign leaders don't generally attend the inauguration, but we are told that Donald Trump has had these informal conversations where he's asking foreign leaders to come to the inauguration.”

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Holmes noted the foreign leaders “have received some sort of outreach, whether it be from the president himself directly or from his team, with an invitation to come down here.”

The CNN correspondent said it’s “unclear who's going to come.”

“We are told that a lot of these conversations are happening kind of in passing, that Donald Trump might be on the phone with one of these world leaders and mention at the end, ‘Why don't you come to the inauguration?’” Holmes reported.

“In fact, some of these conversations are so informal that even as close as aides weren't sure who Donald Trump had invited to the inauguration,” she continued. “And just to give you a little bit of an idea of how it usually goes: again, foreign leaders don't generally attend. Instead, this bipartisan committee that plans the inauguration, they reach out to diplomats with the State Department, and that's who ends up coming. But Donald Trump, he wants it to be more of a global affair. He, of course, wants the fanfare.”

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