Trump invites leader Xi to his inauguration despite threatening massive tariffs on China

2024-12-12 19:18:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Trump invites leader Xi to his inauguration despite threatening massive tariffs

President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, a diplomatic expression of willingness to cooperate, even as Mr Trump has threatened to impose massive tariffs on Chinese goods.

Incoming Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt confirmed Thursday that President-elect Trump has invited Xi Jinping, but added that it remains "to be determined" whether the leader of the United States' most important economic and military competitor will attend the ceremony.

"It's an example on President Trump's part of creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not only not allies, but also our adversaries and competitors," Ms. Leavitt said in an interview on the Fox News network. "We saw that during his first term. He was criticized a lot for that, but that approach led to peace around the world. He's willing to talk to anyone and will always put America's interest first. first," she said.

The CBS network first reported on the invitation sent to President Xi.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment on the invitation.

Ms. Leavitt said other foreign leaders have been invited, but did not elaborate.

Appearing on Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange, where the bell to signal the market's opening rang, Mr Trump said he had "thought about inviting certain people to his inauguration", but did not name them.

"Some people have told me that this is a little bit too dangerous, isn't it?" Mr. Trump said, then added that "it probably is. We will see. We'll see what happens. But we like to take a little risk."

Meanwhile, a senior aide to Hungary's President Viktor Orbán, one of Mr. Trump's most vocal supporters on the world stage, said Thursday that there are no plans for President Orbán to attend the inauguration.

"There is no such plan, at least at the moment," said Gergely Gulyás, Mr. Orban's chief of staff.

The Hungarian nationalist leader has been praised by Mr Trump but has faced isolation in Europe as he has tried to undermine European Union support for Ukraine and repeatedly blocked, delayed or weakened the bloc's efforts to send Kiev arms and funding and to impose sanctions on Moscow for its large-scale attack on Ukraine. President Orban recently met with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Each country's ambassador to the United States will be invited to the inauguration, according to an official with President Trump's Inaugural Commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The invitation comes as Mr Trump has vowed to impose massive tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China so the three countries can do more to reduce illegal immigration and illegal drugs such as fentanyl entering the United States.

Mr. Trump has said that on his first day in office in January, he will impose 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada, and that China may be hit with even higher tariffs. China produces chemicals used to make fentanyl, but over the past year Beijing has stepped up efforts to ban the export of these compounds.

"We've discussed with President Xi on some topics and we've discussed other issues with other world leaders, and I think we're going to have a good result globally," Mr. Trump said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday.

During a meeting last month with President Joe Biden, leader Xi urged the United States not to start a trade war.

"Make wise choices," Mr. Xi warned. "Continue to explore the right way for two great countries to get along well with each other."

Even Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has opposed Mr. Trump's threats, warning that the imposition of tariffs would be dangerous even for the American economy itself. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Trudeau said Americans were "starting to understand the real reality that tariffs on every product from Canada will make it more expensive to live" adding that he would retaliate if Mr. Trump imposed tariffs.

The American president-elect reacted by calling Canada a country and Mr. Trudeau the governor.

Besides the tariff dispute, US-China relations are strained over other issues, including what US officials see as Beijing's indirect support for Russia's war on Ukraine.

US officials have also expressed disappointment that Beijing has not done more to curb North Korea's support for the Russian war.

China is North Korea's main trading partner.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow push back Ukrainian forces from the Kursk border region. Pyongyang has also provided Russia with artillery and other munitions, according to US and South Korean intelligence officials.

Mr Trump's inauguration on January 20 will come a day after the US deadline for Chinese company ByteDance to sell its US arm of popular short video app TikTok or face a ban. US app./VOA