US president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said that he has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and other world leaders to his inauguration next month.
During an appearance at the New York Stock Exchange, where he was ringing the opening bell, Trump said that he has been “thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration,” without referring to any specific individuals.
“And some people said: ‘Wow, that’s a little risky, isn’t it?’” Trump said. “And I said: ‘Maybe it is. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens,’ but we like to take little chances.”
Photo: AFP
His comments came soon after his incoming White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Fox & Friends that Trump had invited Xi and other world leaders to attend his inauguration.
No head of state has previously made an official visit to the US for an inauguration, US Department of State records showed.
The invitations come at a time when much of the world is bracing for what comes next when Trump returns to the White House.
He has vowed to levy massive tariffs against the US’ chief economic competitor, China, as well as neighbors Canada and Mexico unless those countries do more to reduce illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs into the US.
Trump has also pledged to move quickly to end Russia’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine and press NATO allies who are spending less than 2 percent of their GDP on defense to step up or risk the US not coming to their defense, as required by the alliance’s treaty, should they come under attack.
“We’ve been talking and discussing with President Xi some things, and others, other world leaders, and I think we’re going to do very well all around,” Trump said. “We’ve been abused as a country. We’ve been badly abused from an economic standpoint, I think, and even militarily, you know, we put up all the money, they put up nothing, and then they abuse us on the economy. And we just can’t let that happen.”
Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that Xi would not allow himself to “be reduced to the status of a mere guest celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader — the US president, no less.”
Still, Leavitt saw it as a plus.
“This is 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 on Fox & Friends. “We saw this in his first term. He got a lot of criticism for it, but it led to peace around this world. He is willing to talk to anyone, and he will always put America’s interest first.”
Leavitt did not detail which leaders beyond Xi had been invited.
Asked about Trump’s invitation, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said yesterday: “I have nothing to share at present.”
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