President-elect Donald Trump will launch his triumphant return to the White House next week with an inauguration that breaks the mold, beginning with an invite list of foreign dignitaries and technology billionaires.
Mr. Trump defied tradition and invited a slew of his favorite global leaders. Those left off the list, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are angling for a ticket to the presidential swearing-in.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos are reportedly on the guest list. Each donated $1 million to the Trump inaugural fund and visited the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago home. They will sit alongside fellow billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk on the viewing stand steps from where Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will administer the oath of office to Mr. Trump at noon on Monday.
Perhaps the riskiest invitation was extended to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The U.S. and China are poised to battle over Mr. Trump’s proposed tariffs. Reports said Mr. Xi plans to send a high-level representative to the event.
Mr. Trump also invited world leaders whose politics align with his.
They include Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Argentine President Javier Milei and conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He also invited former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who said he would attend if he could retrieve his passport, which his government seized.
Mr. Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Fox News that the invitations, never before extended to foreign leaders for a U.S. presidential inauguration, are “an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, but our adversaries and our competitors, too.”
She said Tuesday that Mr. Trump did not invite Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Mr. Trump is threatening to impose 25% tariffs on Mexican imports if the country does not take action to curb illegal immigration and drugs pouring into the U.S.
The inaugural parade will include the white “MAGA” garbage truck. Late in Mr. Trump’s campaign, the truck symbolized his connection to working-class voters, who helped deliver his victory.
Mr. Trump donned an orange vest and sat inside the truck on his way to a rally in the critical swing state of Wisconsin on Oct. 31. Days earlier, President Biden was recorded on a video call referring to Mr. Trump’s supporters as “garbage.”
Mr. Trump won Wisconsin and the six other swing states.
The Trump transition team, which provided the list of participants, said the truck will make a celebratory return to Mr. Trump’s world and roll behind marching bands and the military on the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route.
“The 2025 inaugural celebrations will reflect President-elect Trump’s historic return to the White House and the American people’s decisive vote to Make America Great Again,” said inaugural committee co-chairs Steve Witkoff and Kelly Loeffler.
The inaugural festivities kick off this weekend with fireworks and a MAGA victory rally featuring a live performance of the Village People, the 1970s band whose hit “Y.M.C.A.” tune was a staple of Mr. Trump’s campaign stops.
The band did not support Mr. Trump’s candidacy and initially asked him to stop playing the song at his rallies.
They have changed their tune.
“Our song ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost,” a band representative said.
Country star Carrie Underwood will sing “America the Beautiful” before Mr. Trump takes the presidential oath of office.
“I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” she said in a statement. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”
The inauguration guest list typically includes House and Senate leaders, members of the Supreme Court, incoming Cabinet members, ambassadors, and past presidents and first ladies.
Michelle Obama’s office said the former first lady would skip the event but former President Obama would attend. Mrs. Obama did not disclose a reason for her absence. She missed former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral this month because of a scheduling conflict.
On the campaign trail in October, Mrs. Obama accused Mr. Trump of “gross incompetence” and said he would be “stewing over his enemies’ list” in the Oval Office.
Mr. Trump responded to Mrs. Obama’s attacks by calling her “nasty” and other names.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend, as will former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will mark a reversal from Jan. 20, 2021, when Mr. Trump did not show up at Mr. Biden’s inauguration after he contested the election results.
Instead of sitting with his successor on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, he departed for Florida from the White House lawn before Mr. Biden took the presidential oath.
“Hopefully, it’s not a long-term goodbye,” Mr. Trump said at the time. “We will see each other again.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.