A world that is safe and prosperous for Americans is one where the United States uses its influence to shape global affairs, leading alongside partners and allies—not one where Washington abandons the table entirely, as President Donald Trump has done. Instead of investing in an America that is competitive against China in the global market, his actions have harmed Americans and our partners. Instead of recognizing that our democratic values are a critical part of our soft power abroad, his administration has furthered authoritarian policies. Instead of strengthening the country’s network of partnerships, he has attacked the country’s long-time allies and sought to destroy the foundations of American diplomacy.
That’s why China’s citizens have given the president the nickname “Trump the Nation Builder” (川建国) as they sing his praises for undermining U.S. global leadership and advancing Beijing’s ambitions of setting the global agenda. While not everything Beijing does on the global stage harms the United States, China will fill the vacuum President Trump has created in ways that benefit its interests and its people, which can profoundly differ from the interests and values of everyday Americans. Put simply, far from making America “great,” Trump is weakening the foundations of American strength and prosperity.
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Weakening U.S. competitiveness
President Trump’s escalating trade war with China will have lasting consequences for American families, workers, and businesses. The massive new tariffs on China will cut off critical imports from China without securing alternatives for the American producers that need them, creating shortages, raising prices, and weakening international credibility. Instead of reducing dependence, this tit-for-tat escalation with China will cost Americans more in price inflation, risking recession and ceding even more leverage to Beijing.
Even though Trump temporarily paused some of his “reciprocal” tariffs, his actions have quickly cemented the perception that the United States is unreliable, provoking retaliation and animosity toward the United States that greatly advantages China in the world market. Japan and South Korea, key U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, are ramping up economic ties with China; EU leadership is planning a trip to Beijing in July; and, despite a long-standing border dispute, India is thawing tensions with China. As Trump alienates, China will seek out new trade relationships and groupings to gain influence and make up for lost U.S. market access resulting from a severe decline in Chinese imports.
Moreover, at this year’s Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President JD Vance bashed European allies while China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi laid a vision for multilateralism and cooperation in the face of shared challenges. The United States is not just losing its partners; by publicly belittling its closest friends, the Trump administration is pushing nations around the world into China’s arms. This will come at great cost. Alliances, which took decades to build, are already crumbling, hurting the competitiveness of U.S. exporters competing for market share in foreign markets. One of China’s greatest weaknesses is that it has few real friends. The erosion of bloc alliances would further undermine NATO, AUKUS, and other crucial U.S. partnerships, which constitute one of the United States’ greatest advantages. Additionally, as other countries shift to local currencies and alternative financial institutions in international trade, reduced U.S. dollar dominance will give Washington less sway over economic sanctions—and, ultimately, less global influence.
The Trump administration’s travel bans and deportation plans are driving away global talent at the heart of U.S. innovation, while China has opened its doors—and wallets—to them.
The Trump administration is also taking actions that will stifle innovation. Though Trump talks big about emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the administration’s travel bans and deportation plans are driving away the global talent at the heart of our innovation ecosystem, which is the foundation of America’s technological edge and economic strength. Meanwhile, China has opened its doors—and wallets—to talent from all over, including to Americans of Chinese origin. Staying ahead in emerging technologies is key to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security; deterring global talent, when compounded with cuts to the U.S. Department of Education and to scientific and medical research, will threaten America’s already precarious ability to lead.
Ceding U.S. influence and dismantling U.S. diplomacy
The Trump administration cut foreign aid programs so abruptly—and unconstitutionally—that children around the world are now dying from starvation and public servants who dedicated their careers to making the world a better place have been left jobless. China, on the other hand, sees opportunities to expand its development and diplomatic impact. It is also pouncing on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) vacuum, offering funding for infrastructure investment, humanitarian aid, health, and education in Nepal, Colombia, and the Cook Islands, for example. Recently, after a devastating earthquake in Myanmar, China sent aid worth $14 million—eclipsing Trump’s late and comparatively measly $2 million pledge.
Although China’s aid and development model (typically big-ticket loans for infrastructure) differs from that of the United States (mostly grants aimed at capacity building), China will opportunistically fill gaps left by the United States. Further expansion of China’s development model would see aid conditioned less on good governance and human rights. Ideology shouldn’t be a condition for aid, but China’s model could indirectly empower dictators who don’t respect human rights. Countries may feel pressured to vote with China at the United Nations or to endorse Chinese political viewpoints due to fear of retaliation or being cut off from needed aid.
What’s more, Trump wants to make drastic cuts to the State Department’s budget and close U.S. diplomatic posts abroad, ceding more ground to China’s already larger diplomatic footprint. With an even smaller diplomatic presence, the United States will have a weaker voice on the global stage, reduced capacity to respond to crises and emerging challenges such as climate change and terrorism, and shortcomings in intelligence and analysis—which will ultimately make it harder to protect American interests, values, and citizens abroad. China’s promotion of authoritarian efficiency at the expense of personal and political freedoms will also grow more influential as the United States’ absence on the world stage makes it more difficult to contest.
China’s noninterference doctrine serves as a strategic shield, allowing it to deflect criticism of its own human rights abuses while simultaneously legitimizing other authoritarian regimes by opposing international intervention.
China proposes a world vision that may seem attractive at face value: a “noninterference” doctrine that would allow states to determine their own human rights norms, end bloc alliances, and conduct international trade in local currencies. But in reality, China’s noninterference doctrine serves as a strategic shield, allowing it to deflect criticism of its own human rights abuses in Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong while simultaneously legitimizing authoritarian regimes by opposing international intervention—like its reaction to the Myanmar junta’s crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters and its persecution of the Rohingya ethnic minority. This doctrine enables Beijing to selectively support allies such as Russia under the guise of neutrality, at the same time legitimizing Russia’s violations of sovereignty while advancing China’s own geopolitical interests.
The expanding footprint of authoritarianism comes as Trump has dismantled congressionally authorized and funded media outlets such as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia—which have a combined weekly audience that eclipses the U.S. population and have, for decades, shed light on truths censored in authoritarian states. Meanwhile, China’s global news networks CGTN and Xinhua, already dominant in global media, are poised to expand further, spreading unchecked state propaganda and well-documented misinformation that have the potential to influence public opinion and broaden Beijing’s global influence. Allowing Beijing’s narratives about the United States to propagate will only compound the damage Trump has already done to the U.S. reputation and image; and an expansion of state-controlled media threatens global access to unbiased, free press.
Abandoning global institutions and crucial cooperation
The administration’s retreat from global institutions—part of a system the United States built and benefited from greatly—on Trump’s first day in office also means that the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and global climate action could increasingly favor China’s interests, leaving Americans more isolated and vulnerable. China is already filling leadership roles in U.N. agencies, mediating global conflicts, and courting the developing world with alternative groups and initiatives. It will continue to strategically build influence as it sees more opportunities.
Trump exploited Americans’ anger around the COVID-19 pandemic to justify pulling out of the WHO, blaming it for helping China obscure COVID’s origins. While Beijing was undoubtedly secretive, and WHO leadership too deferential, abandoning the organization only worsens these flaws. Without a seat at the table, the United States loses influence over global health decisions, early access to critical disease intelligence, and the ability to push for greater transparency. Furthermore, despite the political baggage surrounding COVID, public health is an area where U.S.-China cooperation can continue to save lives—just as it did in 2014, when the two countries cooperated under the WHO to contain the Ebola outbreak. Withdrawing from the WHO and other international institutions leaves Americans more vulnerable, not less.
A U.S. retreat paves the way for a world order increasingly shaped by Beijing—which enables coercion, repression, and a restructuring of global norms.
Trump’s order to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and halt of U.S. climate finance commitments stall global momentum on climate cooperation—historically the only “bright spot” of U.S.-China relations and an area where U.S. leadership has driven ambition. While China may step in to fill the gap, it is unlikely to maintain high standards without U.S. pressure, as evidenced by the modest 2024 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 29) climate finance goal, just after Trump’s election win, and 95 percent of countries failing to submit 2035 climate goals under the Paris Agreement. As a result of the United States’ retreat from climate leadership, the world will experience diminished climate ambition while Americans will face worsening extreme weather, rising temperatures, and exorbitant disaster costs as their country is left behind in the growing clean energy economy.
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Conclusion
A U.S. retreat paves the way for a world order increasingly shaped by Beijing—which enables coercion, repression, and a restructuring of global norms that would weaken the very foundations that have fueled American innovation, economic strength, and geopolitical influence for decades. This weakening not only harms U.S. national economic and security interests; it threatens the prosperity and security of everyday Americans.
At times, China’s interests overlap with the United States’—like tackling the climate crisis, improving public health, and addressing food insecurity—but Trump’s retreat and refusal to engage make coordination harder. At other times, China’s interests will have little impact on the welfare of ordinary Americans. But Washington and Beijing’s interests often diverge, and as China’s influence over the international system grows, it will understandably seek to advance its own, which are often at odds with the values and interests of everyday Americans. Consequently, the United States won’t be able to shape critical global decisions when the next pandemic emerges, when the next war erupts, when the rising sea levels threaten our coastal cities, when the next technological breakthrough emerges—because U.S. leaders are no longer in the room.
The author would like to thank Dave Rank, Allison McManus, Ryan Mulholland, Courtney Federico, and Laura Kilbury of the Center for American Progress for their review and contributions to this article.