FP’s analysis and reporting

Regular readers of this column know that I have not been a fan of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy in his second term. From threatening to seize Greenland and annex Canada, unilaterally raising tariffs sky-high to the fiasco of the Iran war, Trump has been reckless, chaotic, and deeply destabilizing. But he might well turn out to have the right instincts—and perhaps even the right policy—in one crucial arena: the U.S.-China relationship.

In Trump’s recent interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, we saw a version of him rarely on display. He was respectful, almost deferential, eager to emphasize their personal rapport. Xi, by contrast, remained formal, disciplined, and never especially warm. The asymmetry was revealing.

Regular readers of this column know that I have not been a fan of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy in his second term. From threatening to seize Greenland and annex Canada, unilaterally raising tariffs sky-high to the fiasco of the Iran war, Trump has been reckless, chaotic, and deeply destabilizing. But he might well turn out to have the right instincts—and perhaps even the right policy—in one crucial arena: the U.S.-China relationship.

In Trump’s recent interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, we saw a version of him rarely on display. He was respectful, almost deferential, eager to emphasize their personal rapport. Xi, by contrast, remained formal, disciplined, and never especially warm. The asymmetry was revealing.

Trump is obsessed with power. More than ideology or values, he thinks in terms of leverage and dominance. He insults European allies because he understands how dependent they remain on American military protection and access to U.S. markets. Trump senses weakness and exploits it.

But with China, he has come to understand something that much of Washington still struggles to accept emotionally: Beijing has enormous strength of its own—economic, technological, industrial, and military—and can wield it effectively. So Trump has evolved from belligerence toward a more complicated mix of rivalry and cooperation. That may be what this relationship requires.

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