Trump phones and uses back routes to invite foreign leaders to his inauguration.

Donald Trump, eager to  make his inauguration a global event,  has personally  invited several foreign leaders, including heads of state  who have  recently met with the United  States.
Trump has  already asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his  inauguration, his transition team confirmed Thursday, an  extremely rare offer  made to the communist leader of one of  the United States' main geopolitical  rivals.
"This is an example of  how President Trump  creates an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not  only allies but  also our adversaries and  competitors," Trump spokeswoman  Caroline Leavitt said  Thursday during an appearance on Fox  News.
A delegation of senior Chinese officials is expected to attend  the ceremony in  Xi's country, according to two sources familiar with the  matter.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and  Argentine President Javier  Miel have also been invited by Trump or his team, sources confirmed to CNN. All three are close allies of  Trump, who  has also  rattled the  U.S. and its allies at times  by adopting strong-arm tactics and far-right  politics.
The offers to attend his Washington  party have been mostly informal, a person  familiar with the conversations told CNN, and  sometimes have  occurred during phone  conversations about other  topics. The person also said some invitations have  been passed through back channels, not directly  from leader to leader.
Trump has also dictated written  invitations, a source familiar with the matter said, and  has had his team send them to foreign  leaders.
Trump's transition team did not respond to questions about  which other leaders he  has invited. On Thursday, the president-elect suggested he  might invite other foreign  leaders, which could be "a little  risky," according to people familiar with the matter.
"We like to take  a little  risk," Trump said. "But  it's not a bad  risk."
A New Diplomatic Era for America
It is up to the president-elect and his team to determine which guests  will attend his inauguration, including  which world leaders they  might invite,  a source familiar with the process told CNN.  Typically, the bipartisan Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and the State Department reach out to diplomats to attend. The JCCIC has already begun sending invitations to  each country's chief of  mission as part of its  usual protocol.
However, it is rare for heads of state to  travel to Washington for an  inauguration and  it is up to the incoming president to make such  requests, the source  said. The opening beyond  the US's closest Western allies signals a new diplomatic era for the  US. In an interview with Time in late November and published Thursday, Trump  discussed his existing relationships with authoritarian leaders like North  Korea's Kim  Jong-un and  Russia's Vladimir Putin  -- though he declined to say  whether he  had spoken with Putin since  his victory in  November.
"I agree with  Russia," Trump told the news magazine, which also named him  its Person of the  Year on Thursday.  "I agree with a lot of people that people  thought I  was not good."
The invitations to world leaders also speak to  Trump's initial interest in  reconnecting with his foreign  counterparts four years after  leaving Washington,  D.C., and  a battered and diminished world  stage.
In the weeks since his political comeback, Trump has spoken  to world leaders and hosted  some at his  club in Palm Beach,  Florida. On social media, he has already  dabbled in  international affairs, threatening Mexico and Canada with 25% tariffs and calling for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Trump told Time magazine  that he opposed a new US policy  that would allow Ukraine to  launch long-range missiles  at Russia.
Trump also  made a trip  abroad: he participated in the reopening of the  Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, an appearance that  was made at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump  turned around, drawn by the  glow — and also  by the  presence of many onlookers.
He also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,  Prince William of the United  Kingdom and  Meloni. "It was  a really  big thing," Trump said Thursday. "And a lot of world leaders, there were about 80 world leaders,  from different countries, and they all  came together."
Trump wants a  'world stage' in  Washington
He is  now trying to turn his inauguration into a  must-see event.
"Trump is very eager to have world leaders at the inauguration,"  a Trump adviser told CNN. "He wants a  world stage."
However, the  loose nature of Trump's  invitations has made it difficult for even his closest aides to track everyone who has  or has not received an invitation to his second  inauguration.
It also poses additional security  concerns for the  U.S. Secret Service, which is  tasked with protecting all heads of state  while they are on  U.S. soil. The  Capitol Police  Department is already tasked with protecting  a future president who survived two assassination attempts over the summer, as well as the leaders of Congress, the Supreme Court, outgoing President Joe Biden and  the House Bianca, and all the former - the present presidents.
Xi is not expected, but it is not  yet clear which leaders intend to  accept Trump's offer.
Bukele's office confirmed receiving an invitation on  Trump's behalf, but it is  not yet known if the  Salvadoran president plans  to attend.
In a recent interview with  NBC's "Meet the  Press," Trump  said he and Xi  have communicated regularly since his election,  though he continues to threaten to launch  an all-out trade war with China after taking  office . Asked earlier Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange  if Xi had accepted his invitation, Trump said,  "I don't want to  say," adding that the two leaders had a  "very good  relationship."
"I invited a lot of great  people and  they all  said yes," Trump said.  "Everyone I invited  accepted."