Donald Trump invited China’s Xi to presidential inauguration: Report

President-elect Donald Trump has invited the Chinese president Xi Jinping for his inauguration, CBS News reported Wednesday night, citing multiple anonymous sources.

In early November, Trump asked Xi to come to the Jan. 20 ceremony, but it is not clear if he has accepted, CBS News said. The report could not be independently verified by Newsweek, who reached out via email to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment.

According to the report, Trump’s team has also considered inviting other world leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s transition spokeswoman 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.”

Trump has appointed several China hawks to his cabinet, including the Florida senator Marco Rubio to lead the State Department and Florida representative Mike Waltz, one of the most vocal China critics in Congressas his national security adviser. Both are Republicans.

When Trump returns to office, he can expect to trade with China frequently. Trump made a point of positioning himself as be tough on Chinastart a trade war with Beijing through tariffs.

Xi stepped down in 2020 ahead of that year’s presidential election, saying: “In today’s world, any unilateralism, protectionism and ideology of extreme self-interest are completely useless, and any blackmail, blockades and extreme pressure are completely useless.”

“Any action that focuses only on oneself and any effort to engage in hegemony and bullying simply will not work – not only will it not work, but it will be a dead end,” Xi said.

Trump has promised to roll 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 bold aggression against Taiwan and throughout the South China Sea.

Trump says he believes Taiwan should pay the U.S. more for its defense, and he vowed to put limits on Chinese ownership of U.S. land and resources.

However, Trump has shown some flexibility in relation 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 being implemented through president Joe Bidens initiative, Trump has spoken out against a ban.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Update, 12/11/24 at 7:35 PM ET: This story has been updated with additional context and information.