When Donald Trump returned to Beijing in late 2025, Xi Jinping greeted him with a display of robotics and electric‑vehicle prototypes rather than the historic pageantry of 2017. The shift signaled Beijing’s new narrative: China as a rising superpower and the United States as an empire in decline. Chinese think‑tanks now publish reports crediting Trump’s tariffs and political turmoil for accelerating that downturn.

A Renmin University‑affiliated study titled “Thank Trump” called the president an “accelerator of American political decay,” arguing that U.S. polarization and trade disputes have forced China toward strategic self‑reliance. Brookings researchers found references to American decline in official Chinese sources nearly doubled in 2025, a trend echoed in social‑media chatter about Capitol riots, immigration raids and the so‑called “kill line.”

The narrative has tangible market effects. Shanghai analysts note that Chinese buyers are now eyeing U.S. soybeans, corn and natural‑gas contracts to curry favor with swing‑state voters, while enrollment in American universities fell from over 80 % to roughly 45 % among students advised by a northern‑China consultant. Beijing remains cautious, preferring to exploit U.S. distraction rather than provoke outright confrontation.