WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a strategic diplomatic maneuver, former President Donald Trump has announced plans to extend invitations to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for next year’s U.S.-hosted G20 summit. The decision emerged following separate telephone discussions between Trump and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Tuesday.
This invitation initiative, while not unprecedented for G20 host nations to include non-member states, signals a deliberate effort to strengthen American ties with Central Asian nations. The 2026 gathering is scheduled to occur at Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida, near Miami.
The development follows last month’s Washington summit where leaders from five Central Asian nations—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—engaged in substantive talks with Trump. This enhanced engagement reflects the administration’s growing strategic interest in a region possessing substantial mineral reserves, including approximately half of global uranium production and critical rare earth metals essential for advanced technology manufacturing.
In a significant parallel development, Kazakhstan recently committed to joining the Abraham Accords, the Trump-era initiative normalizing relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations. This diplomatic alignment occurs alongside controversial exclusionary measures, as Trump simultaneously announced South Africa’s exclusion from the same summit citing disputed treatment of U.S. representatives—a claim strongly rejected by South African authorities.