Trump invites China’s Xi to his inauguration even as he threatens massive tariffs on Beijing
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, extending a diplomatic olive branch even as Trump threatens to levy massive tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed Thursday that Trump invited Xi, but said it was “to be determined” if the leader of the United States’ most significant economic and military competitor would attend.
In fact it seems unlikely.
Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Xi would not allow himself to “be reduced to the status of a mere guest celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader — the U.S. president, no less.”
“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,” Leavitt said on Fox News. “We saw this in his first term. ... He is willing to talk to anyone and he will always put America’s interest first.” Leavitt said other foreign leaders have also been invited, but did not provide any details.
China is preparing for an escalation of the trade war with the U.S. once Donald Trump takes office.
Inviting a leader of an adversarial nation for Inauguration Day is unorthodox. Jim Bendat, a historian and author of “Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President,” said he was not aware of a previous U.S. inauguration attended by a foreign head of state.
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing to invite foreign leaders to attend,” Bendat said. “But it sure would make more sense to invite an ally before an adversary.”
“I could see why [Trump] might like the optics,” said Edward Frantz, a presidential historian at the University of Indianapolis. “But from the standpoint of American values, it seems shockingly cavalier.”
Mexico’s president walks a fine line between pleasing her constituents and placating Trump.
Biden White House officials said it was up to Trump to decide whom he invites to the inauguration.
“I would just say, without doubt it’s the single most consequential bilateral relationship that the United States has in the world,” White House national security spokesman John F. Kirby said. “It is a relationship both fraught with peril and responsibility.”
Trump on Thursday during an appearance at the New York Stock Exchange said he’s been “thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration” without specifying.
“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.”
Canada was long viewed as a beacon for immigrants. But record levels of migration here in recent years have triggered widespread backlash.
Every country’s chief of mission to the United States will also be invited, according to a Trump inaugural committee official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The invitation to Xi comes as Trump has vowed to enact massive tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China to get those countries to do more to reduce illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl into the United States.
He has said that, on his first day in office in January, he would impose 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada and that China could be hit with even higher tariffs.
China produces precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, but Beijing has stepped up efforts over the last year to crack down on the export of the chemicals.
President-elect Donald Trump vowed to enact hefty new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration and drugs.
Xi, during a meeting with President Biden last month in Beijing, urged the United States not to start a trade war. “Make the wise choice,” Xi cautioned. “Keep exploring the right way for two major countries to get along well with each other.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also issued a warning about Trump’s threats, saying that such tariffs would be perilous for the U.S. economy as well.
Trudeau this week said that Americans “are beginning to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything from Canada would make life a lot more expensive” and said he will retaliate if Trump goes ahead with them.
Trump responded by saying Canada should be a U.S. state and Trudeau the governor.
Canada was long viewed as a beacon for immigrants. But record levels of migration here in recent years have triggered widespread backlash.
In addition to the tariff dispute, U.S.-China relations are strained over other issues, including what U.S. officials see as Beijing indirectly supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Biden administration says China has supported Russia with a surge in sales of dual-use components that help keep its military industrial base afloat.
U.S. officials also have expressed frustration with Beijing for not doing more to rein in North Korea’s support for the Russian war. China accounts for the vast majority of North Korea’s trade.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dispatched thousands of troops to Russia to help repel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk border region. The North Koreans also have provided Russia with artillery and other munitions, according to U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials.
Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration takes place a day after the U.S. deadline for ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of social media giant TikTok, to sell the social media app or face a ban in the United States.
Madhani writes for the Associated Press.
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