Donald Trump’s invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping for his January inauguration is a classic Trump move—a masterstroke of strategy that leaves pundits guessing and Democrats sputtering. It signals that while the president-elect is ready to play hardball with Beijing, he’s also adept at the art of the deal. The left, predictably, will twist itself into knots trying to frame this as “capitulation,” conveniently ignoring that Trump has always operated with a long-term game plan.
According to Andrew Bishop of Signum Global Advisors, Xi’s attendance could come with strings attached—a temporary grace period on tariffs. Sure, China might demand a three-month reprieve, but let’s not kid ourselves. Trump’s “good relationship with China,” as he put it during a CNBC interview, isn’t about cozying up to communists. It’s about leverage. Xi attending the inauguration would signal Beijing’s understanding that they’re dealing with a president who doesn’t bluff. And even if Xi skips the event, Bishop notes this doesn’t mean tariffs are coming on Day 1. Trump is playing chess while his critics can barely handle checkers.
The reality is that Trump’s tough-on-China stance hasn’t wavered. During his campaign, he floated tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese imports and threatened Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs unless they addressed immigration failures. Unlike the empty threats Democrats make to virtue-signal, Trump’s tariff strategy is grounded in getting results. His first term proved that using tariffs as a negotiating tool can reshape global trade dynamics, even if the left insists on framing it as reckless. Spoiler alert: it’s not reckless if it works.
Economists love to gripe about tariffs driving up inflation, as though the average American isn’t already drowning under Bidenomics. What they fail to grasp—or conveniently ignore—is that tariffs aren’t an end goal but a means to secure better deals and protect American industries. Trump’s focus on fentanyl, trade imbalances, and decoupling from sensitive Chinese sectors demonstrates that his policies prioritize national security and American sovereignty over globalist hand-wringing.
Trump’s critics love to scream “trade wars” while conveniently glossing over the fact that their own policies have done nothing but empower Beijing and drive up costs for middle-class Americans. Democrats have had years to stand up to China, but their obsession with appeasement and optics has only emboldened Xi. Meanwhile, Trump’s approach has Xi and his cronies scrambling to the negotiating table.
This isn’t weakness—it’s strength. Trump isn’t handing out participation trophies to world leaders who play dirty. He’s holding them accountable, prioritizing American jobs, and proving once again that his policies have a backbone—a quality sorely missing from the left. For every liberal think tank whining about “unilateral decoupling,” there’s a hardworking American who understands that a president with a plan is better than one with a pronoun policy. Trump’s long-term vision for trade and security leaves no room for doubt: America comes first, no matter how much it irritates the global elite.
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