Invite To Xi, Record Donation, VIP Passes Run Out: The Trump Oath Countdown

From world leaders to tech giants to business tycoons, the who’s who across the globe is hoping for a pass to the January 20 event at the Capitol building in Washington DC in which Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the US. Vice-President JD Vance will take the oath at the same ceremony. Invites have gone out to major world powers and the US’ key allies, including India. Industry leaders, meanwhile, are jostling for a VIP pass they can use to get into the good books of the incoming administration.

Dr S Jaishankar Is India’s Representative

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will represent India at the January 20 event, the government announced today. “On the invitation of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar will represent the Government of India at the Swearing-In Ceremony of President-Elect Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement this morning.

“During the visit, EAM will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming Administration, as also some other dignitaries visiting the US on that occasion,” the statement said.

There is no clarity yet on the people Dr Jaishankar will be meeting during his trip, but New Delhi will look to ensure that the change of guard in the US adds momentum to the bilateral ties that have grown over the past several years.

Which World Leaders Are Attending

Traditionally, world leaders are not invited to the inauguration ceremony of the US President. But Trump has broken tradition this time. The Republican leader has sent personal invites to some leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is significant against the backdrop of the geopolitical rivalry between Washington DC and Beijing. Confirming the invite to Xi, Trump spokeswoman Karolie Leavitt said during a show on Fox News, “This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too.”

The Chinese president is unlikely to attend the event, Vice President Han Zheng or Foreign Minister Wang Yi may be sent to the US.

A CNN report quoting sources has said El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentinean President Javier Milei have also been invited by Team Trump. His team did not respond to questions about other leaders.

Trump Wants A ‘World Stage’: Report

Last month, shortly after his victory in the US polls, Trump visited Paris on the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was damaged in a fire in 2019. There, he met a battery of world leaders, including UK’s Prince William and Italy’s Meloni.

“It was something really beautiful. And a lot of world leaders, there were about 80 world leaders, different countries, and they were all coming together,” he said.

According to Team Trump, the Republican leader wants his inauguration to be a similar event. “Trump is very eager to have world leaders at the inauguration. He wants a global stage,” one of his advisors has told CNN.

This will, however, pose massive security challenges for the US Secret Service which will need to ensure protection for multiple heads of state and accommodate their respective security profiles.

There is another major challenge. Many of these invites have been extended in passing during an interaction on other matters. Some of them have been through back channels. CNN has reported that the freewheeling nature of the invites has made it difficult for even Trump’s closest aides to keep track of everyone who has received an invitation. “I’ve invited a lot of great people, and they’ve all accepted,” Trump has said. “Everybody I’ve invited has accepted.”

Corporates Line Up With Big Donations

Eager to please the new administration, industry leaders have made massive financial contributions to the inauguration event. According to a report in The New York Times, the inaugural committee has raised over 170 million dollars and is well on its way to crossing the 200 million dollar mark.

Aviation giant Boeing has pledged 1 million dollars for the event. Google, Meta and Microsoft have said they have made similar donations. The list also includes Chevron, Amazon and Uber. Also on the list are Apple CEO Tim Cook and his OpenAI counterpart Sam Altman, who have pledged donations of 1 million dollars each.

The scale of donation this time is best understood when in contrast to the 2021 inauguration of outgoing President Joe Biden, which raised a much smaller kitty — about 62 million dollars. In 2017, when Trump took oath as President for his first term, he had raised a record 107 million dollars, which is set to be broken this time.

VIP Passes Run Out

According to a report in The New York Times, several key donors have been told they won’t get VIP tickets because there is no space. The personalised donation link that fund-raisers had circulated to their networks of major contributors no longer worked on Tuesday and Wednesday. The packages offered to corporate and individual donors had originally been marketed as available through Friday, but ended early due to the extraordinary demand. “Space is limited,” read the marketing materials for the donor packages.

So, individual donors will now have to obtain free tickets available to the public through members of Congress to get a seat at the event. These passes, however, will not provide the access industry leaders look for in an inauguration.

“Seats at the inaugural address, tickets to the ritzy balls or access to other events are typically a major part of why major donors cut checks. Inaugural events are a key time for the lobbying industry, and they draw donations from corporations and wealthy donors eager to gain influence or make amends with a new administration,” the NYT report says, explaining why VIP passes are important.

Those who have contributed 1 million dollars or two million dollars were supposed to be entitled to six tickets each for six different events, according to an updated list of benefits, the NYT reported. These events include the swearing-in ceremony and a sought-after “candlelight dinner” on January 19 with Trump and his wife, Melania.