Power Politics, Global Guests and Tech Titans

This Monday, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America. Trump’s inauguration marks only the second time in U.S. history that non-consecutive terms have been served. However, this was not the only unique element in President Trump’s second inauguration. Notable politicians, foreign leaders, and tech tycoons characterized this occasion, both with their presence, and the lack thereof. 

In keeping with tradition, all three surviving former presidents were in attendance, despite Trump’s decision not to appear at former President Joseph Biden’s inauguration in 2021. According to the New York Times, the former presidents did not attend a traditional lunch with the President following this year’s inauguration. Former First Lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s previous political rival, were both present at the ceremony as well, but former First Lady Michelle Obama, however, was notably absent. Former Vice President Mike Pence also made an appearance at the inauguration, however his wife Karen Pence did not. Prior to the ceremony, the former Vice President wrote on X: "This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States," explaining his choice to attend the inauguration. President Carter’s funeral earlier this month was the first time Pence and Trump interacted publicly since the President’s supporters violently threatened the former Vice President on January 6, 2021. The former First Lady noticeably did not stand to shake Trump’s hand on that occasion, pointing to the reason for her decision not to attend this January’s inauguration. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and several other House Democrats did not attend the inauguration, either. 

President Trump’s inauguration marked the first in the country’s history to be attended by foreign leaders. Trump chose to invite many far-right leaders, while snubbing much of the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to Al Jazeera. Two prominent attendees included Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy, a conservative populist party, and Argentinian President Javier Millei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist”, who Trump said can “Make Argentina Great Again,” according to BBC. 

Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary that BBC credited with “transform[ing] Hungary into what the European Parliament has denounced as a ‘hybrid regime of electoral autocracy’”, was also invited by Trump but was unable to attend. President Xi Jinping of China received an invitation to the inauguration as well, U.S. News reported. In his stead, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng appeared at the ceremony. 

Despite the presence of and invitations to several foreign adversaries, U.S. allies were noticeably missing. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was not invited, according to his office. However his office further clarified that this was precedent and that the Prime Minister was therefore not snubbed. His far-right political rival Nigel Farage, however, did receive an invite and attended the ceremony, although he was not able to be seated in the Capitol Rotunda. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, did not receive an invite, either, according to Politico. 

Several CEOs of prominent tech companies were invited to the inauguration as guests of President Trump, said the New York Times. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and close friend of Trump, were all seated on the dais inside the Rotunda. This prime seating is typically “reserved for Supreme Court justices, military leaders, former presidents and their spouses, Cabinet nominees and visiting foreign leaders” according to NBC New York.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended the inauguration as well, however, he was not seated with the rest of the tech billionaires. The Wall Street Journal called Chew “Trump’s New Tech Friend” in a headline for a story regarding the CEO. This weekend, TikTok went dark for 12 hours, citing the “TikTok ban” as the reason. A message to users read, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” before instructing users to exit the app. By the time many TikTok users woke up the following morning, a pop-up now stated, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” The New York Post called this a “deliberate Public Relations stunt” to win favor for the President, citing both the short-lived shutdown and the CEO’s appearance at Trump’s inauguration as evidence.