tirsdag 12. mai 2026

Trump flying to Beijing: America looks weaker and its potency more frayed than ever before in recent decades

After a delay due to launching a war on Iran in late February, US President Donald Trump is finally confirmed to go to China on 14 May. This is the moment, heralded by his most recent bilateral with China’s Xi Jinping last October, when the “big, beautiful deal” with Beijing that Trump has often talked about has the chance to finally be revealed to the world.

Expectations, therefore, are high. But as ever with a master of hyperbole like the current US president, are they in danger of being dashed by hard reality?

For any other less mercurial politician, heading to China with hopes fanned would be regarded as foolhardy. The prudent approach would be to under-promise, on the chance you can then over-deliver. But for Trump, such a quotidian approach clearly does not appeal.