Recent commentary has labeled Donald Trump’s national security appointees “hawks” who favor a tough role for the United States against China. This is wrong and distracts from the need to place America’s national interests at the heart of U.S. foreign policy.
Trump’s first days in office suggest a willingness to reach out to Beijing that does not fit with the “hawks” label, the president saying he wants to visit China, and would prefer not to impose tariffs if a “deal” can be struck on trade.
This should be unsurprising since Trump’s appointees include both those committed to standing up to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and those with deep economic investments in the country.
Trump’s China “hawks” include Marco Rubio for secretary of state, Mike Waltz for national security adviser, Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, Peter Navarro for trade adviser, key advocate of the TikTok ban Jacob Helberg as State Department economic policy official, and as deputy national security adviser Alex Wong, anti-CCP Senator Tom Cotton’s former adviser.
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