No, President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be attending soon-to-be US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 – due to a lack of invitation.
While the ceremony typically only involves foreign diplomats attending as a courtesy, not world leaders, Trump extended his invitation to a number of foreign heads of state and politicians – many on the far-right – whilst omitting many of the serving leaders.
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Some, such as Chinese leader Xi Jinping, was invited, but chose to send his vice president in his place instead in a historical move. Others, such as UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, were reportedly not invited.
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Instead, political figures associated with the far right movements in Europe, such as Britain’s anti-EU populist Nigel Farage, French far-right firebrand Eric Zemmour and co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Tino Chrupalla, all received invitations and said they would be attending.
In terms of serving leaders, pro-Ukrainian Argentinian President Javier Milei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – both considered populists in their home turfs – received the invitation and said they would try to attend. In fact, Meloni is reportedly the only serving EU leader to have been invited.
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, known for his clashes with Brussels while in office, also confirmed his attendance to Politico.
Those named would likely be rubbing shoulders with tech mongols such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, the latter, who heavily endorsed Trump’s campaign, had engaged with Farage and Germany’s AfD prompting election interference criticisms in Europe. Coincidence? Likely not.
Politico described the list of invitees as “a clear ideological marker” of Trump’s upcoming presidency.
It would be strange for a leader to attend against the tradition, but everyone needs something from Trump at the end of the day, an EU diplomat told Politico on condition of anonymity.
“No one is going to laugh this off, and some may even come, because they all need things from Trump,” the diplomat said.
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