Trump Inauguration: Who’s Expected to Attend and Who’s Boycotting?

Former presidents, politicians, tech giants, world leaders and others will gather in Washington, DC, on Monday for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration — while a few key figures will skip the event.

Traditionally, most outgoing presidents attend the inauguration of those who take over the White House. Outgoing President Biden told the MeidasTouch network last month that he would attend Trump’s second inauguration — even though Trump did not show up for Biden’s inauguration four years ago. In addition, the White House confirmed that First Lady Jill Biden will attend.

Likewise, all three living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, confirmed that they will attend the inauguration festivities, The Associated Press reports. Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton will also join their spouses for Trump’s second inauguration.

But some prominent Democrats will not appear at the inauguration. Former first lady Michelle Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced this week that they will skip the event.

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A podium is seen as preparations are made for the US presidential inauguration. (AP Photos)

A spokesman for the Obamas did not provide additional information to the AP regarding Michelle Obama’s absence, although the former first lady also did not attend former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month.

Likewise, tech giants including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Chew will attend and sit at the front of the podium with other VIP guests.

A source familiar with the plans told Fox News that Digital Chew received an invitation from the inaugural committee. The New York Times broke the news that Chew would attend.

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Members of the U.S. military’s Joint Honor Guard parade as they practice ahead of the upcoming presidential inauguration on the North Lawn in front of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Associated Press)

Trump also extended invitations to several world leaders — including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” in December that Xi had received an invitation after Trump said he would “love to have” the Chinese leader there at the inauguration.

“This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not only our allies but also our adversaries and our competitors. We saw this in the first term before,” Leavitt said. “He is willing to talk to anyone, and he will always put America’s interests first.”

Although Jinping will not attend, China’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng would visit Washington for the occasion.

The AP also reported that Trump had invited Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. Likewise, CBS reported first that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was invited to the inauguration, but Hungarian media reported that he would not be making the trip, according to Politico.

However, Milei is expected to attend, as is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, That’s what the police write.

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President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office in Washington, DC on January 20, 2017. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Such appearances are unique. The AP previously reported that no foreign leaders have attended any US inaugurations, according to State Department historical records.

Musical performances by Carrie Underwood, the Village People and Lee Greenwood are also scheduled for the inauguration. Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful” during the swearing-in ceremony for Trump and President-elect JD Vance, a Trump Transition spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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Trump and former first lady Melania Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Other presidents have also missed the inauguration of their successors. Six other former presidents dating back to John Adams also skipped the inauguration for the incoming president, according to the White House Historical Association.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Brooke Singman and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.