"The Worlds That Donald Trump and Xi Jinping Want

Whether Xi is moved by Trump's bonhomie may be immaterial. Analysts see China working quietly in the shadow of Trump's blustering disruption.

In some sectors, it is gingerly filling the void left by Trump's America First agenda, including buttressing parts of the global humanitarian system gutted by the Administration's dismantling of U.S.A.I.D.

More broadly, China is gaining ground simply by existing in contrast to Trump's United States " a more predictable power that's not launching unprovoked wars, installing puppet regimes in petro-states, or erratically lashing out at longtime friends and partners.

(New polling confirms the impression of China's growing popularity around the world, relative to the United States.)

On Tuesday, at the dais of the U.N.'s General Assembly, Trump denounced the institution's "globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected" and its "far-left" agendas, attacking bodies such as its human-rights council, and the International Criminal Court.

He laid out possible strikes against Iran, musing, "Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?"

(The King of Jordan, speaking right after Trump, bemoaned the global instability wrought by the Iran war.)

Trump also celebrated his military operation, earlier this year, in Venezuela, to remove Nicols Maduro from power, asserting that the U.S. "will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States."

Here was the leader of the global hegemon, reminding the world of his hegemony."