The News
Donald Trump’s inauguration represents a preview of his foreign policy approach.
In a break from tradition, several foreign politicians and heads of state are on the guest list, including right-wing populist leaders Javier Milei of Argentina and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni is reportedly the only EU leader to have been invited to the inauguration and is largely seen as the bloc’s olive branch to the new administration, while, Milei — who has been described by Trump as his “favorite president” — will likely seek closer trade relationships with the US. Other figures invited include British anti-EU populist Nigel Farage and French far-right politician Éric Zemmour.
Meanwhile Mexico, Canada, and China are bracing for Trump’s promises to impose heavy tariffs on day one, while he has also threatened Greenland and Panama’s sovereignty.
SIGNALS
Foreign leaders will take Trump’s invite seriously
The inauguration’s global nature reflects a growing deference toward Trump instead of the defiance that marked his first term, The New York Times’s Peter Baker noted: “Much of the world, it seems, is bowing down to the incoming president.” While inaugurations are traditionally domestic affairs, Trump’s guest list reads like a “global Who’s Who of right-wing populists,” Politico wrote, offering a sense of “the political trajectory of his administration.” And foreign leaders won’t be quick to dismiss the non-traditional invitation to a US inauguration: No one is going to laugh this off, and some may even come, because they all need things from Trump,” one EU diplomat told Politico.
Nations outside Trump’s favor scramble to prepare for his return
Hours before Trump’s inauguration, Mexico agreed to a trade deal with the European Union and raced to build migrant shelters, as countries scrambled to prepare for Trump’s return to office. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been among the world leaders most urgently positioning herself for Trump’s presidency, having already courted Canadian businesses and hitting back at Trump’s aggressive rhetoric. Elsewhere, South Korea pledged a record amount of financing support for its exporters in anticipation of US tariffs, while China — which during the last Trump term weakened its currency to combat his trade policies — is this time likely to defend the yuan.