Trans-Pacific View | Diplomacy | East Asia

Why Did Donald Trump Leave China Out of His State of the Union Address?

Trump’s careful approach to China stems from an internal Republican battle over tariffs with the midterm elections looming in November.

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during his State of the Union address on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2026.

Despite being the longest State of the Union address in modern U.S. history, President Donald Trump’s 2026 speech marked the first time in two decades that an American president did not directly mention China in the annual address to Congress. Many observers have attributed the omission to timing: Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in April. But a closer look suggests that Trump’s careful approach to China reflects two important domestic factors: an internal Republican battle over tariffs – intensified by a recent Supreme Court ruling against his tariff authority – and the looming midterm elections later this year.

Trump’s upcoming trip to Beijing will be the first by a sitting American president since his own visit in 2017. He has repeatedly touted his “excellent relationship” with Xi. Earlier this month, Trump described a phone call between the two leaders as “very positive” and their relationship as “extremely good.” 

While Washington has adopted a more conciliatory tone toward Beijing – prioritizing trade over flashpoints such as Taiwan – Beijing has not fully reciprocated. Following the call, Chinese officials issued a statement warning against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Some argue that even a president as unpredictable as Trump understands that publicly attacking China right now would be ill-timed if he hopes to secure trade deals during his April visit. However, Trump sharply criticized China in his 2018, 2019, and 2020 State of the Union addresses – even when meetings or calls with Xi were imminent. Why, then, the silence this time?

The answer lies in domestic politics. Throughout his second term, Trump has embraced an expansive view of presidential power, treating tariffs as a flexible instrument of leverage in negotiations with Beijing. But the Supreme Court’s recent rebuke of his use of global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) has destabilized that strategy. The ruling has disrupted Trump’s economic agenda and restricted his ability to deploy tariffs quickly and unilaterally, effectively weakening one of Washington’s most potent tools of economic leverage over Beijing.

China – previously facing one of the highest tariff rates – saw its effective rate fall by 7 percentage points before Trump moved to restore measures under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Even so, Beijing now understands that Trump’s remaining economic tools are slower and more constrained, a reality that will shape negotiations when he arrives in Beijing in April.

Meanwhile, China has steadily strengthened its own leverage since the first trade war began in 2018. Beyond matching U.S. tariffs with retaliatory duties, Beijing has expanded its use of non-tariff countermeasures – tightening export controls on rare earth materials, adding U.S. defense and technology firms to regulatory blacklists, launching antidumping investigations, and suspending imports from selected American agricultural exporters. In 2025, China even posted a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus after redirecting exports to alternative markets........

© The Diplomat