Chinese President Xi Jinping is getting the United States he always wanted. Since U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2025, Washington has grown less confident in its global purpose, less committed to the rules-based order it once upheld, and more willing to wield power in ways that unsettle markets, institutions, and allies. Washington’s global authority and credibility are wearing away.

In one sense, this is good news for Beijing. A weaker, less moralistic Washington is harder for others to rally around. It offers a less compelling model. It has become less capable of organizing coalitions and more likely to drive away the very partners it needs to balance China . For decades, Chinese leaders have wanted a United States strong enough to keep the global economy afloat and prevent outright systemic collapse but no longer capable of shaping the international order in ways that constrain China’s rise.…