As Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Washington this week for a state visit, U.S. President Donald Trump gave him the royal treatment, greeting him personally on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews — a rare honor for a visiting foreign leader — before welcoming him to the White House for a formal ceremony and state dinner. The symbolism is striking.?
The question is not whether the United States should talk to China. Of course it should. The question is what U.S. allies and adversaries will conclude from the way Trump has treated Xi compared with the way he has treated America’s traditional allies — most notably Ukraine.
Of all Trump’s actions since assuming power, the ones likely to cause the greatest harm to U.S. interests over the long run are the changes he has made to America’s foreign policy, particularly with respect to Ukraine. The post-World War II order was based on alliances undergirded by U.S. security guarantees. The so-called U.S. security umbrella fostered American leadership throughout the world while enabling allied nations to pursue economic development and trade without engaging in costly arms races, including, in many cases, the development of their own nuclear weapons.
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