The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, has accepted President-elect Donald Trump’s invitation to attend his inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.
Milei was one of several world leaders that Trump invited to his inauguration. The distinguished list included Chinese President Xi Jinping, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, among others. Milei’s office reportedly confirmed his intention to attend on Sunday.
As of now, Milei is the only leader to publicly announce he is attending. Chinese President Xi Jinping declined the invitation but will send a diplomatic delegation in his place.
Milei’s attendance at a U.S. presidential inauguration, or that of any world leader, would be unprecedented. No head of a foreign country is believed to have ever attended a U.S. presidential inauguration, according to CBS News. Typically, foreign countries send “lower-ranking foreign diplomats or ambassadors” instead.
Trump’s invite to world leaders is part of a change in policy with his incoming administration. The invites appear to be based on at least some geopolitical strategy, as Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated during an interview on “Fox and Friends” last week. The incoming White House press secretary said it was “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.”
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Trump first publicly suggested inviting foreign leaders to his inauguration on Thursday when he ceremoniously opened the New York Stock Exchange. Trump mentioned the idea when speaking to the press, stating that he was “thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration,” according to the Associated Press. The president-elect’s statement was met with skepticism, as some expressed concerns, claiming that inviting heads of state was risky due to security concerns.
“Maybe it is. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “But we like to take little chances.”