Milei, Bukele and Meloni: The foreign leaders invited by Trump for his inauguration

In an unconventional gesture, President-elect Donald Trump has extended informal invitations to several heads of state with whom he shares a close relationship and ideological affinity, inviting them to attend his inauguration ceremony.

One of them is the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, who plans to attend Trump's historic inauguration.

Throughout history, inauguration ceremonies in the United States have been characterized by the absence of foreign leaders, who usually do not receive invitations to attend. However, Trump, who has already begun diplomatic efforts by meeting with several heads of state in the last month, is eager for his inauguration to be a historic ceremony with several foreign presidents present.

According to several reports, including those from Argentine media such as La Nación, Milei will attend the ceremony, confirming the good harmony between the Argentine leader and the U.S. president-elect.

The decision, which was not foreseen initially, was taken after Trump personally invited Milei.

Milei reposted several tweets on his X account indicating that he will be in the U.S. capital for the inauguration ceremony.

According to CNN, other foreign leaders, such as El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were also invited to attend the event.

The news network reported that Trump's offers to attend the Washington, D.C. ceremony have been mostly informal. Often times, invitations arrived during phone conversations between the leaders on other matters. Likewise, some invitations were made through alternative channels rather than directly from leader to leader.

According to a CNN source, Trump has also dictated written invitations and ordered his team to send them to foreign leaders.

Trump himself confirmed last week that he might invite foreign leaders who would be considered "risky."

According to various reports, Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping in an unprecedented diplomatic gesture to the head of the United States' main geopolitical and trade rival. However, the Chinese leader is expected to skip the event and instead send a delegation of senior Chinese officials.

"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," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said of the event during an appearance last week on Fox News.