Everyone's "Going to Make a Mark"... Trump's Residence Bustling

Japanese Foreign Minister Attends Trump's Inauguration... Ishiba Plans to Visit the US Early Next Month

Zuckerberg and Altman Attend Trump's Inauguration

As the inauguration of Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States, scheduled for the 20th (local time), approaches, leaders from various countries and big shots in the economic sector are striving to make connections with President-elect Trump. Consequently, Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where Trump's residence is located, is bustling. Big Tech CEOs will also be attending Trump's inauguration.

Leaders of Canada, Italy, and Argentina Visit in Succession

Since the US presidential election in November, leaders such as Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Javier Milei, President of Argentina, Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, and Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, have visited Mar-a-Lago in succession.

Except for Prime Minister Trudeau, these leaders have expressed strong support for President-elect Trump. President Milei is nicknamed 'Argentina's Trump' due to his similar political stance and policy style to Trump. President Milei also plans to attend Trump's inauguration in Washington, DC, on the 20th.

Prime Minister Meloni is also considered to have the most aligned views with Trump among European leaders, particularly in advocating anti-immigration policies. Prime Minister Meloni made a surprise visit to the US on the 4th (local time) to meet with President-elect Trump.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is reportedly preparing for the first US-Japan summit with President-elect Trump by visiting the US in February. Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 12th that they are finalizing the summit for early February, stating, "(Prime Minister Ishiba) is likely to visit the US around the weekend of February 8-9." Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will be the first Japanese cabinet member to attend Trump's inauguration.

Big Tech Big Shots Rushing to the Inauguration

CEOs of major US tech companies such as OpenAI and Meta Platforms will attend Trump's inauguration on the 20th. According to Bloomberg, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of Chat GPT, plans to attend the inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is also expected to attend.

Particularly, the fate of these companies could hinge on their relationship with President-elect Trump. CEO Altman is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, who has emerged as one of Trump's closest aides, over OpenAI's transition to a for-profit company. Musk could exert influence over government grants and regulations for companies as a co-chair of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the new administration. CEO Altman, who previously donated to President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, has also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.

Zuckerberg, who has had a strained relationship with Trump for years, has placed Trump's aides in forward positions at Meta and removed third-party fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram. The Trump camp has claimed that third-party fact-checking censored conservative posts by labeling them as false or fake news.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, who had a rocky relationship with the Trump administration during its first term, reportedly plans to donate $1 million and produce and distribute a documentary about Melania, according to CNN and other foreign media.

Masayoshi Son, chairman of Japan's SoftBank Group, announced a $100 billion investment plan in the US after a direct meeting with Trump.

New York = Park Shin-young, Correspondent nyusos@hankyung.com