Former presidents, politicians, tech giants, world leaders and others will convene in Washington, D.C., on Monday for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration – while a few key figures will skip the event altogether.
Traditionally, most departing presidents do attend the inauguration of those taking over the White House. Outgoing President Biden told MeidasTouch network last month he would attend Trump’s second inauguration – even though Trump didn’t show up to Biden’s inauguration four years ago. Additionally, the White House confirmed first lady Jill Biden will attend.
Likewise, all three living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, confirmed they will partake in the inauguration festivities, the Associated Press reports. Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton will also join their spouses for Trump’s second inauguration.
But some prominent Democrats will not appear at the inauguration. Former first lady Michelle Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced this week that they will skip the event.
A spokesperson 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 former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month.
Likewise, tech giants including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Chew will attend and sit up front on the dais alongside other VIP guests.
A source familiar with the plans told Fox News Digital Chew received an invitation from the Inaugural Committee. The New York Times broke the news that Chew would attend.
Trump also extended invites to several world leaders – including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ‘Fox & Friends’ in December that Xi had received an invitation after Trump said that he would ‘love to have’ the Chinese leader there at the inauguration.
‘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. We saw this in the first term, before,’ Leavitt said. ‘He is willing to talk to anyone, and he will always put America’s interests first.’
Although Jinping will not attend, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng would visit Washington for the occasion.
The AP also reported that Trump had invited Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. Likewise, CBS first reported that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was invited to the inauguration, but Hungarian media reported he would not make the trip, according to Politico.
However, Milei is expected to attend, as is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Politico reports.
Such appearances are unique. The AP previously reported that no foreign leaders have attended any U.S. inaugurations, according to State Department historical records.
Musical performances by Carrie Underwood, the Village People and Lee Greenwood are also scheduled for the inauguration. Underwood is slated 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.
Trump and former first lady Melania Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Other presidents have also missed their successors’ inaugurations. 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.
