MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was not invited to the inauguration of United States of America’s President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
According to Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez, it is a policy for the incoming US President not to invite heads of states in his inauguration.
“As a matter of policy, no head of state is invited,” Romualdez said in a statement sent to media. “Only ambassadors represented in Washington are invited.”
“Since the 1800s, no head of state has been invited to the US presidential inauguration,” added Romualdez, who will attend the event in lieu of Marcos.
Interestingly, in a December report by CNN, Trump’s transition team stated that the returning US President have invited several world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping.
Presidential Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez, meanwhile, said the US secretary of state, on behalf of the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, has invited the chiefs of diplomatic missions and their spouses to represent their respective heads of state and their governments at the principal inaugural events.
“In this case, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez will represent (President Marcos) at the inauguration,” Chavez said.
Trump served as the 45th President of the United States from 2016 to 2020, but lost his run for a back-to-back term in November 2020 to US President Joe Biden.
In November 2024, the American businessman defeated US Vice President Kamala Harris for the US presidency./PN
