Name: Here Are the Foreign Leaders and Politicians Attending Trump’s Inauguration
Uploaded: 2025-01-21T05:56:17.000Z
Description: President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 will be the first of its kind to boast foreign heads of state as attendees.

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

NTD Plus

News

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

Smart Spending: How to Save on Summer Travel

UAE Suffered More Iranian Missiles Than Israel, Paving Way for Iron Dome: Analyst

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Washington Event to Rededicate US as ‘One Nation Under God’

Best-Selling Author Concerned Christians May Be Next in China’s State-Sanctioned Organ Trade

Jason Perry is an Army veteran and NTD's National Security Correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Jason primarily covers border security, national defense, foreign wars, and veterans' issues.

Jason Perry

Pentagon Paves the Way to Buy 10,000 Containerized Missiles

US Reports No Hantavirus Cases From Cruise Outbreak

Juliette Fairley is a freelance reporter for NTD and The Epoch Times and a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Born in Chateauroux, France, and raised outside of Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Juliette is a well-adjusted military brat. She has written for many publications across the country. Send Juliette story ideas at JulietteFairley@gmail.com

Juliette Fairley

Daniel Monaghan is a reporter for NTD News covering culture, social issues, and education. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government.

Daniel Monaghan

US News

Politics

Executive Branch

Rubio: China is ‘Top Geopolitical Challenge’

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

Jury Awards $49.5 Million to Family of Woman Killed in 2019 Boeing Max Crash

Andrew Moran has been writing about business, economics, and finance for more than a decade. He is the author of "The War on Cash."

Andrew Moran

China News

Trump Departs China After 2-Day Talks With Xi

Haika Mrema

Medical Plane Crash in New Mexico Mountains Kills 4, Sparks Wildfire

Accommodating, Enabling China’s Regime a Failed Strategy: China Expert

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 14)

Kevin Hogan is an NTD News data reporter and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Kevin covers breaking news, as well as U.S. and global current events. He conveys the news through data visualizations and investigates pressing issues.

Kevin Hogan

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 12)

President Trump Leaves for China Today; Calif. Mayor to Plead Guilty to Acting as CCP Agent | NTD Good Morning (May 12)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (May 5)

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 will be the first of its kind to boast foreign heads of state as attendees.

Trump broke with more than a century and a half of tradition to invite a wide array of national leaders and political figures to the inauguration, making the occasion historic not only for Trump, but for the guests as well.

No foreign head of state has attended the U.S. presidential inauguration since at least 1874, when the State Department began recording such things.

Trump has invited a wide array of guests, though some have elected to send proxies in their stead and others have been prevented from attending due to extenuating circumstances.

Aside from some heads of state and senior foreign dignitaries, the inauguration is slated to be a veritable who’s who of conservative populist leaders from across Europe, who have commonly championed the causes of economic vitality, border security, and traditional culture.

Here’s a look at the foreign leaders and political personalities expected to be in attendance:
<h3>Javier Milei, President of Argentina</h3>
Milei has made a name for himself among thought leaders for his relentless campaign to cut government spending, eliminate regulations, and pare back the country’s administrative state.

He came to the presidency at a time when Argentina had spent nearly a decade and a half accumulating deficits, was wracked by a poverty rate above 40 percent, and was burdened with a high inflation rate that eventually pushed to nearly 300 percent.

Milei has since eliminated 10 of Argentina’s 18 government ministries, capped the salaries of top bureaucrats, fired 34,000 public employees, and cut government spending by 30 percent. As of Jan. 17, the nation is entering its first year of budget surplus in 14 years.

A political outsider, Milei has found common cause with Trump in both style and substance, and was the first foreign leader to meet with Trump following the president-elect’s victory in November.
<h3>Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy</h3>
Meloni is widely seen as a key mediator between Europe and Trump and shares many policy priorities with the president-elect including a desire to lower taxes, halt illegal immigration, and cut bureaucracy.

A former firebrand turned reformer, Meloni cemented Italy’s strength on the world stage in 2023 when she pulled the nation out of China’s Belt-and-Road Initiative, which has been widely criticized for setting debt traps for participating nations and exerting political influence through the communist regime’s investments.
<h3>Han Zheng, Vice President of the People’s Republic of China</h3>
Trump initially invited Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head Xi Jinping to the inauguration in an opening diplomatic gesture between the two rivals.

Xi declined to attend in person but elected to send Han as his envoy.

Han now serves in a largely symbolic role within the Chinese regime, but previously occupied several high-profile positions within the CCP, including on the regime’s Politburo Standing Committee.

During his time as a vice premier, Han was also instrumental in shaping the response of the regime to the unfolding pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which ended with the passage of an authoritarian national security law, the mass arrest of political opponents, increased censorship, and an effective erosion of democratic norms in the territory.
<h3>Takeshi Iwaya, Foreign Minister of Japan</h3>
Iwaya previously served as Japan’s defense minister during the first Trump administration and will be the first Japanese cabinet member to ever attend the swearing-in of a U.S. president.

The minister is also expected to participate in security talks the day after the inauguration with representatives from the member states of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue: Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.

The meeting will likely serve to maintain continuity in security cooperation between the nations amid ongoing tensions with communist China and North Korea.

Earlier in the month, Iwaya also traveled to U.S. allies South Korea and the Philippines to discuss similar security coordination.
<h3>Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India</h3>
Jaishankar previously served as foreign minister and ambassador to both the United States and China before becoming external affairs minister.

As India’s foreign minister, he has pushed back on China’s undermining of Indian markets and imbalanced trade practices.

He was also central to developing a deal with the first Trump administration to allow for the sharing of sensitive information and intelligence between the two nations, including access to India’s nautical, aeronautical, and geospatial data, a move that was subsequently condemned by the Chinese Communist Party.
<h3>Sarah Knafo, Member of the European Parliament for France</h3>
The sole member of France’s conservative Reconquête party in the European Parliament, Knafo has worked to support the president-elect’s return to the White House while also championing limits on immigration from Africa and the Middle East into France.

She is the partner of Eric Zemmour, who will also be in attendance.
<h3>Eric Zemmour, President of France’s Reconquête Party</h3>
A former journalist and one-time presidential candidate, Zemmour has led the Reconquête party since its founding.

In his current role, Zemmour has pushed for increased border security and clampdowns on illegal immigration, as well as curbs on radical Islamic ideology within France. He has also sought to balance the pan-European movement with a more traditional nationalism, saying that he believes France should remain in the European Union but that its own interests must be met first.
<h3>Nigel Farage, Leader of the United Kingdom’s Reform UK Party</h3>
Formerly the leader of the UK’s UK Independence Party and orchestrator of Brexit, Farage has also pushed against mass immigration into the UK and sought to eliminate the teaching of transgender ideology in primary schools.

Farage first came to support Trump on the campaign trail in 2016, shortly after securing a victory for Brexit. The two have since supported one another’s apparent focus on national pride and ability to act in the face of overwhelming state and media scrutiny.
<h3>Tom Van Grieken, Chairman of Belgium’s Vlaams Belang Party</h3>
Van Grieken has led the Flemish independence Vlaams Belang party to an all-time high in public support and has publicly defended Trump on multiple occasions against what he termed European media bias against the president-elect.
<h3>Tino Chrupalla, Co-Chair of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party</h3>
Chrupalla has helped to lead the AfD since 2021, pushing for policies to curb the flow of predominantly Muslim immigrants into Germany and to initiate mass deportations.

The party recently earned an endorsement from American entrepreneur Elon Musk and appears to be positioning itself as an alternative point of contact in German politics for the incoming administration.
<h3>Santiago Abascal, President of Spain’s Vox Party</h3>
Abascal helped to lead Vox to its first Parliament seats in 2019 on a platform that called for better border security, the strengthening of a unified Spanish culture, and a focus on traditional Catholic values.

Vox, under Abascal, has publicly supported Trump and his policies during his first term, the 2020 election, and the 2024 election.

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/here-are-the-foreign-leaders-and-politicians-attending-trumps-inauguration-5794474">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Latest

trump

Videos

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Andrew Thornebrooke is a national security correspondent for The Epoch Times covering China-related issues with a focus on defense, military affairs, and national security. He holds a master's in military history from Norwich University.

Andrew Thornebrooke

Donald Trump

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.