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Three potential pathways for US-China relations under Trump
Brookings
2026.02.04
This discontinuity in Trump’s approach to the U.S.-China relationship begs the question of what effect it will have on the relationship’s trajectory in the coming years. This piece examines three possible pathways: first, a soft landing whereby both leaders invest in permanently improving the relationship; second, a hard split whereby Trump grows disillusioned and angry toward China over time, similar to the arc of events during the first Trump administration; and third, a situation whereby both leaders buy time to build insulation against each other, though without any pretense of expecting a permanent improvement in bilateral relations.
Of these three scenarios, I judge that the third, in effect extending the period of relative strategic calm, is the likeliest trajectory for the relationship in the coming years insofar as it serves both leaders’ larger objectives. I also explore factors that could limit or invalidate this period of relative strategic calm.