Donald Trump knows how to change gears when dealing with America’s friends and foes.

Donald Trump did a whirlwind visit to China, where he brought the cream of the American CEO crop. Who didn’t try to get a selfie with Elon Musk who visited with one of his children? The president was shown respect that neither Obama nor Biden ever received. While one would think that strong leaders like President Xi (the guy who got rid of the 2 x 5 year presidency respected by all of his predecessors) like weak leaders of their enemies, the truth is often quite the opposite. An Obama/Gordon Brown or Biden/Starmer weak-weak arrangement worked out because each one was a loser and did not feel threatened by the other. When a strong leader deals with a weaker one, he often does not know if the other other fellow can deliver the goods. Xi knows that Trump can get stuff done, so dealing with him is dealing with the United States. The praise Xi heaped on Trump and the US at the official state dinner was extraordinary.

There are many reasons not to like China or its behavior. An incomplete list would include the following:

Abuse of World Trade Organization membership

Currency manipulation

Making North Korea a nuclear state

Endlessly threatening to take Taiwan

Intellectual property theft

Closed markets to US goods

Taking and militarizing islands that don’t belong to China

Buying US farmland too close to military installations

Supporting Iran and Russia

Locking up dissidents

Using their commercial cars and drones to spy on the West

This list is by no means exhaustive. During my sole visit to China, I found police and soldiers to be everywhere. The security at the train stations was greater than Israel has at Ben Gurion Airport. We weren’t encouraged to walk around by ourselves, and like the president and his staff, we left our phones at home and........

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