Washington, Jan 19: Business magnate Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita are set to attend US President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration, expected to be a gathering of some of the nation’s most influential billionaires, politicians, foreign leaders, and celebrities.
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The Ambani couple arrived in Washington, D.C., on January 18 and were among a select few invited to an intimate ‘candlelit dinner’ with Trump the previous evening, according to sources familiar with the event. They were reportedly the only Indians in attendance at the dinner, which also included Vice President-elect JD and Usha Vance. The couple has been personally invited by the Trump family to the inauguration taking place on January 20. Attempts to get a comment from Reliance Industries Ltd, headed by Mukesh Ambani, were unsuccessful.
The Ambanis have a history of close relations with the Trump family. Mukesh Ambani was present during Ivanka Trump’s visit to Hyderabad for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2017, while she was serving as an advisor to her father, President Trump. He also met Trump during his visit to India in February 2020.
Notably, members of the Trump family, including Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner, and their daughter Arabella Rose, were guests at the lavish three-day pre-wedding celebrations for Ambani’s younger son Anant and his fiancée Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, Gujarat, in March 2024. The family shared snapshots from the celebrations on Instagram, with Ivanka describing the first night as a “magical evening in Everland,” while her outfit for the second night garnered attention for its elegance. For the final evening, she posted a photo in a stunning white-and-gold dress, captioning it with plans for the night’s festivities.
In a noteworthy distinction, while many wealthy donors have contributed up to $1 million to gain VIP access to Trump’s inauguration committee, the Ambanis are attending as personal guests of the Trump family.
This inauguration is anticipated to be a star-studded affair. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton are expected to be in attendance.
Some of the world’s wealthiest individuals, including tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Facebook parent company CEO Mark Zuckerberg are also expected to be prominent guests. Other notable Big Tech executives, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, are reported to have significant seats at the ceremony. Companies like Meta, Amazon, Google, and Uber have each contributed at least $1 million to the Trump inaugural fund, indicating their interest in the potential impacts of tax, trade, and antitrust policies during Trump’s second term. (Agencies)
