section_path: Inaugural events/Attendees
section_name: Attendees
paragraph_text: Attendees
  
  Trump's inauguration marked the first time that a U.S. president-elect formally welcomed foreign leaders to the ceremony.
  
  Outgoing U.S. president Joe Biden (who defeated Trump in 2020 and was inaugurated as the 46th president in 2021), outgoing U.S. vice president Kamala Harris (who had been Trump's main opponent in 2024), former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama (whom Trump first succeeded in 2017) attended the inauguration. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton (Trump's former opponent in 2016) and Laura Bush also attended the inauguration, but former first lady Michelle Obama was absent. Former U.S. vice presidents Dan Quayle and Mike Pence (who served under Trump during his first term) and former second lady Marilyn Quayle were also in attendance, while former vice presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney and former second lady Karen Pence were absent. New York mayor Eric Adams and media proprietor Rupert Murdoch also attended the inauguration.
  
  Chinese president Xi Jinping was invited to the ceremony, but sent vice president Han Zheng as his special representative instead. This marked the first time a senior official of China's government was sent to a US presidential inauguration. El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni were also reportedly invited. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially planned to attend, but ultimately did not after not receiving a formal invitation. Argentine president Javier Milei and the last democratically-elected Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili had been reportedly planning to attend. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has indicated that he was an invitee, but he would have needed his confiscated passport to be returned by the government in order to travel. Russia confirmed that President Vladimir Putin did not receive an invitation. Trump stated that he had not invited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his inauguration but expressed willingness to welcome him if he decided to attend. Current British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not attend the inauguration, while former British prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss attended. Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa, first lady Lavinia Valbonesi, and Paraguayan president Santiago Peña were also planning to attend. Edmundo González, whom the U.S. government recognizes as the winner of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, also reportedly attended.
  
  The foreign ministers of Quad nations, S. Jaishankar from India, Penny Wong from Australia, and Takeshi Iwaya from Japan, also attended the inauguration. They were expected to meet with Trump the day after the ceremony for discussions.
  
  A number of right-wing populist politicians attended the inauguration. French Reconquête politicians Éric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo, National Rally politicians Louis Aliot, Julien Sanchez, and Alexandre Sabatou, and Identity–Liberties leader Marion Maréchal, attended the ceremony. Spanish Vox leader Santiago Abascal, Belgian Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Tino Chrupalla, Estonian Conservative People's Party leader Martin Helme, Alliance for the Union of Romanians leader George Simion, Danish People's Party leader Morten Messerschmidt, Portuguese Chega leader Andre Ventura, Hungarian Fidesz vice-president Kinga Gál, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki were also in attendance. From the Czech Patriots.eu representation were invited ANO MEP Ondřej Knotek and vice president of the Patriots for Europe MEP Klára Dostálová, Přísaha senator Robert Šlachta, MEP Filip Turek from the Motorists for Themselves, as well as their founder and leader Petr Macinka, the latter of whom – as manager of the Václav Klaus' Institute – was also invited to the Foster's Outriders Foundation inauguration ball at the Museum of the Bible to meet Tucker Carlson and Rick Santorum. AfD Members of the Bundestag Jan Wenzel Schmidt and Beatrix von Storch alongside her husband Sven von Storch have confirmed their attendance. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, Freedom Party of Austria leader Herbert Kickl, and Bulgarian Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov were invited, but did not attend the ceremony. Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia, was invited to the inauguration.
  
  Numerous businesspeople including Bernard Arnault, Delphine Arnault, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, among the world's richest people, attended the inauguration. They had a prominent role at the event, seated together on the platform alongside other distinguished guests, including Cabinet nominees and elected officials. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended the inauguration. Alphabet 's Sundar Pichai, Apple 's Tim Cook, OpenAI 's Sam Altman, Reliance 's Mukesh Ambani, and Uber 's Dara Khosrowshahi also attended the event. Las Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson also attended the ceremony.
  
  Several celebrities and sports figures – including Victor Willis, Carrie Underwood (who sang " America the Beautiful "), Christopher Macchio (who sang the national anthem), Antonio Brown, Mike Tyson, Jorge Masvidal, Evander Kane, Gianni Infantino, Anuel AA, Justin Quiles, Rod Wave, Kodak Black, Lee Greenwood, Fivio Foreign, Jake and Logan Paul, Theo Von, Conor McGregor, Danica Patrick, Dana White, Joe Rogan, and Wayne Gretzky – attended the ceremony. Media personalities Charlie Kirk, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson also attended the event.
  
  Trump's inauguration marked the first time that a U.S. president-elect formally welcomed foreign leaders to the ceremony.
  
  Outgoing U.S. president Joe Biden (who defeated Trump in 2020 and was inaugurated as the 46th president in 2021), outgoing U.S. vice president Kamala Harris (who had been Trump's main opponent in 2024), former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama (whom Trump first succeeded in 2017) attended the inauguration. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton (Trump's former opponent in 2016) and Laura Bush also attended the inauguration, but former first lady Michelle Obama was absent. Former U.S. vice presidents Dan Quayle and Mike Pence (who served under Trump during his first term) and former second lady Marilyn Quayle were also in attendance, while former vice presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney and former second lady Karen Pence were absent. New York mayor Eric Adams and media proprietor Rupert Murdoch also attended the inauguration.
  
  Chinese president Xi Jinping was invited to the ceremony, but sent vice president Han Zheng as his special representative instead. This marked the first time a senior official of China's government was sent to a US presidential inauguration. El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni were also reportedly invited. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially planned to attend, but ultimately did not after not receiving a formal invitation. Argentine president Javier Milei and the last democratically-elected Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili had been reportedly planning to attend. Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has indicated that he was an invitee, but he would have needed his confiscated passport to be returned by the government in order to travel. Russia confirmed that President Vladimir Putin did not receive an invitation. Trump stated that he had not invited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his inauguration but expressed willingness to welcome him if he decided to attend. Current British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not attend the inauguration, while former British prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss attended. Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa, first lady Lavinia Valbonesi, and Paraguayan president Santiago Peña were also planning to attend. Edmundo González, whom the U.S. government recognizes as the winner of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, also reportedly attended.
  
  The foreign ministers of Quad nations, S. Jaishankar from India, Penny Wong from Australia, and Takeshi Iwaya from Japan, also attended the inauguration. They were expected to meet with Trump the day after the ceremony for discussions.
  
  A number of right-wing populist politicians attended the inauguration. French Reconquête politicians Éric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo, National Rally politicians Louis Aliot, Julien Sanchez, and Alexandre Sabatou, and Identity–Liberties leader Marion Maréchal, attended the ceremony. Spanish Vox leader Santiago Abascal, Belgian Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Tino Chrupalla, Estonian Conservative People's Party leader Martin Helme, Alliance for the Union of Romanians leader George Simion, Danish People's Party leader Morten Messerschmidt, Portuguese Chega leader Andre Ventura, Hungarian Fidesz vice-president Kinga Gál, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki were also in attendance. From the Czech Patriots.eu representation were invited ANO MEP Ondřej Knotek and vice president of the Patriots for Europe MEP Klára Dostálová, Přísaha senator Robert Šlachta, MEP Filip Turek from the Motorists for Themselves, as well as their founder and leader Petr Macinka, the latter of whom – as manager of the Václav Klaus' Institute – was also invited to the Foster's Outriders Foundation inauguration ball at the Museum of the Bible to meet Tucker Carlson and Rick Santorum. AfD Members of the Bundestag Jan Wenzel Schmidt and Beatrix von Storch alongside her husband Sven von Storch have confirmed their attendance. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, Freedom Party of Austria leader Herbert Kickl, and Bulgarian Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov were invited, but did not attend the ceremony. Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia, was invited to the inauguration.
  
  Numerous businesspeople including Bernard Arnault, Delphine Arnault, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, among the world's richest people, attended the inauguration. They had a prominent role at the event, seated together on the platform alongside other distinguished guests, including Cabinet nominees and elected officials. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended the inauguration. Alphabet 's Sundar Pichai, Apple 's Tim Cook, OpenAI 's Sam Altman, Reliance 's Mukesh Ambani, and Uber 's Dara Khosrowshahi also attended the event. Las Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson also attended the ceremony.
  
  Several celebrities and sports figures – including Victor Willis, Carrie Underwood (who sang " America the Beautiful "), Christopher Macchio (who sang the national anthem), Antonio Brown, Mike Tyson, Jorge Masvidal, Evander Kane, Gianni Infantino, Anuel AA, Justin Quiles, Rod Wave, Kodak Black, Lee Greenwood, Fivio Foreign, Jake and Logan Paul, Theo Von, Conor McGregor, Danica Patrick, Dana White, Joe Rogan, and Wayne Gretzky – attended the ceremony. Media personalities Charlie Kirk, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson also attended the event.