President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration, CBS News reported Wednesday evening, citing multiple anonymous sources.
Early in November, Trump asked Xi to come to the January 20 ceremony, but it is not clear if he has accepted, CBS News said. The report could not be independently verified by Newsweek, which reached out by email to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment.
Trump’s team has also considered inviting other world leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to the report.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s transition spokesperson and incoming press secretary, told CBS News, “World leaders are lining up to meet with President Trump because they know he will soon return to power and restore peace through American strength around the globe.”
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Trump has named several China hawks to his Cabinet, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio to lead the State Department and Florida Representative Mike Waltz, one of the most vocal China critics in Congress, as his national security adviser. Both are Republicans.
When Trump returns to office, he can expect to deal with China frequently. Trump made a point of positioning himself as being tough on China, initiating a trade war with Beijing through tariffs.
Xi pushed back, in 2020 ahead of that year’s presidential election saying: “In today’s world, any unilateralism, protectionism, and ideology of extreme self-interest are totally unworkable, and any blackmailing, blockades and extreme pressure are totally unworkable.”
“Any actions that focus only on oneself and any efforts to engage in hegemony and bullying will simply not work—not only will it not work, but it will be a dead end,” Xi said.
Trump has vowed to bring back Chinese tariffs, with plans to implement as much as 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. However, much has changed since Trump left office, including China’s emboldened aggression against Taiwan and throughout the South China Sea.
Trump says he believes Taiwan should be paying the U.S. more for its defense, and he promised to place limits on Chinese ownership of U.S. land and resources.
However, Trump has shown some flexibility on matters related to China: During his first administration, the president-elect championed a ban on the Chinese-owned app TikTok; now that the ban is close to implementation through President Joe Biden’s initiative, Trump has come out against a ban.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
Update, 12/11/24 at 7:35 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional context and information.
