Former presidents, politicians, tech giants, world leaders and more will meet Monday in Washington, DC, Inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump – while several key figures will skip the event altogether.
Traditionally, most outgoing presidents attend the inauguration of those taking over the White House. Outgoing President Biden told the MeidasTouch network last month that he would attend Trump’s second inauguration — even though Trump did not appear at Biden’s inauguration four years ago. In addition, the White House confirmed that First Lady Jill Biden will attend.
Likewise, all three living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, have confirmed that they will participate in the inauguration ceremonies, reports the Associated Press. Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton will also join their spouses at Trump’s second inauguration.
But some prominent Democrats will not appear at the inauguration. Former First Lady Michelle Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced this week that they would skip the event.
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The podium is seen as preparations are being made for the inauguration of the American president. (AP Images)
A spokesman for the Obamas did not provide additional information to the AP regarding Michelle Obama’s absence, although the former first lady also did not attend the former Funeral of President Jimmy Carter earlier this month.
Likewise, including tech giants Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon MuskAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Chew will attend and sit up front on the podium with other VIP guests.
A source familiar with the plans told Fox News that Digital Chew received a call from the inaugural committee. The New York Times broke the news that Chew would be attending.
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Members of the U.S. Army Joint Honor Guard parade as they practice ahead of the upcoming presidential inauguration, on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington, on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (The Associated Press)
Trump also extended invitations to several world leaders – including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
New White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” in December that Xi received the invitation after Trump said he would “love to have” the Chinese leader at the inauguration.
“This is an example of President Trump opening an open dialogue with the leaders of countries that are not only our allies, but also our adversaries and competitors. We’ve seen that in the first term, before,” Leavitt said. “He is willing to talk to anyone and will always put America’s interests first.”
Although Jinping will not attend, China’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will visit Washington on the occasion.
The AP also reported that Trump invited Javier Miley, the president of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. Also, CBS first reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was invited to the inauguration, but Hungarian media reported that he would not come, according to Politico.
However, Milei is expected to attend, as is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, reports Politico.
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President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in in Washington, DC on January 20, 2017. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Such phenomena are unique. The AP previously reported that no foreign leader has attended any US inauguration, according to State Department historical records.
Musical performances by Carrie UnderwoodThe Village People and Lee Greenwood are also slated for the inauguration. Underwood is scheduled to perform “America the Beautiful” during the swearing-in ceremony for Trump and President-elect JD Vance, a Trump Transition spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Trump and former first lady Melania Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Other presidents have also missed the inaugurations of their successors. Six other former presidents, dating back to John Adams, also skipped inaugurations for the incoming president, according to the White House Historical Association.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Brooke Singman and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
