The invitation is an unorthodox move on Trump’s part
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Xi Jinping rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s invitation to the inauguration, it is reported.
The Chinese president was invited to Trump’s second inauguration on January 20, but reports showed that the leader would not attend, CNN reports.
The invitation was an unorthodox move by Trump, who said he was “considering inviting other people to the inauguration,” an appearance at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
“And some other people said, ‘Wow, that’s a little risky, right?’ “Trump said. “And I said, ‘Maybe it’s like that. ‘ We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. » But we like to take few risks.
Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the Chinese leader had been invited during an appearance on Fox & Friends Thursday morning.
“This is a very interesting move by Trump that fits very well with his practice of unpredictability. I don’t think anyone expected this,” Lily McElwee, deputy director and fellow in the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN.
“It’s a very, very reasonable carrot. It’s a symbolic carrot: It alters the tone of the quotes a little bit in a way that doesn’t harm American interests. “
According to State Department records, no foreign head of state has ever attended an inauguration in the United States.
“We have relations with China. “I’m in a relationship,” Trump told CNBC.
Last month, Trump threatened to impose 25% price lists on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, as well as additional 10% price lists on goods from China. These three countries constitute the main trading partners of the United States.
“Drugs are flowing into our country, primarily Mexico, at levels never before seen,” Trump wrote in Truth Social last month. “Until they stop, we will impose an additional 10% tariff on China, on top of any additional tariffs, on all of their numerous products entering the United States of America. “
In response, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States wrote in X: “Economic and industrial cooperation between China and the United States is mutual in nature. No one will win an industrial war or a tariff war.
In the aftermath of Trump’s election victory, some experts have been warning about how tariffs could impact consumers and could lead to inflation.
Over the summer, a Nobel laureate organization wrote a letter warning against Trump’s economic plans, saying his policies could simply have a “destabilizing effect. “
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