From his high-profile address to the UN General Assembly to his high-stakes White House summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump this week was looking to reassert himself on the world stage.

But Trump’s diplomatic flurry has done little to dispel the view among many analysts of a president beset by problems at home and abroad. Those include a widening Iran war that has driven up US gasoline prices and cratered his approval ratings, while his relations with allies worsen and the AI challenge from China intensifies.

With the limits of his power exposed, Trump has begun facing pushback from world leaders on issues ranging from the crisis in the Middle East to Russia’s war in Ukraine, leaving the impression of a foreign policy agenda that has stalled. This comes as Trump’s Republican Party faces midterm elections in November that could further constrain him politically.

Even so, Trump’s speech to the United Nations on Tuesday was a stark reminder of how, since returning to the White House last year, he has shaken up the rules-based global order that Washington helped to create from the ashes of World War Two.

Standing atop the rostrum of a world body dedicated to peacemaking, he issued a fresh threat to annihilate Iran if it did not agree to a deal, defended his coercive approach to OPEC member Venezuela by asserting to the victor belong the spoils, and signaled he may not be done deploying the US military to achieve his international aims.

Despite that strident stance, Trump’s talks with Xi on Thursday put the US president up against a Chinese counterpart who appeared to be in stronger position, overseeing a surge in his country’s trade with the world while the US grapples with the economic fallout from the Iran conflict.

Limited results from Xi summit

That was the backdrop for a state visit by Xi that was heavy on pomp and ceremony but light on substance, despite a host of thorny issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan and Iran. The most tangible outcome appeared limited to a two-month extension of a trade truce, originally due to expire in November, between the world’s two biggest economies.

While Trump showed little interest in publicly airing any differences between the two powers, Chinese state media reported that behind closed doors Xi urged him to oppose independence for Taiwan. The democratically governed island claimed by China remains the most contentious topic in relations between Washington and Beijing.

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Reuters

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