In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared, “The East is rising, and the West is declining.”
It certainly looked that way during former Joe Biden’s term. In August 2021, Biden surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban. During the chaotic pullout, a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops. Medieval barbarians humbled the mighty United States and took control of billions of dollars of military equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sure noticed. Months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Shortly before the attack, Biden mused that a “minor incursion” would lead to disunity among Ukraine’s Western allies. Not a great deterrence strategy.
Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China expanded its global influence. In 2023, Biden let a Chinese spy balloon float over the country. The precursor chemicals for fentanyl flowed from China to Mexico and across the border. More than 200,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses during Biden’s term.
America struggled domestically under Biden. Inflation exploded. Schools taught students that America is systemically racist. Hamas supporters took over college campuses with few consequences. Millions of illegal immigrants streamed across the wide-open border. Even blue cities buckled financially under the weight of the influx.
In July 2024, Hamas supporters tore down and burned American flags at Union Station in Washington, D.C. They chanted “Allahu Akbar” and vandalized monuments.
For the vast majority of human history, that alone would have been proof that a nation was conquered and doomed to decline. The ascendancy of the East looked assured.
No longer. Look at what President Donald Trump has done in fewer than 14 months.
Under pressure from the Trump administration, the Panamanian government recently took control of the Panama Canal from a company connected to China.
In a daring raid, U.S. forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum recently sat down with the nation’s new acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. She appears willing to work with Trump. That will ensure Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources benefit America’s interests, not China’s.
Trump has choked off oil into Cuba, much of which came from Venezuela. The country’s communist regime is collapsing and ready to strike a deal with Trump.
Trump’s foreign policy wins aren’t limited to the Western Hemisphere. Many of the leaders of the “Death to America” regime in Tehran are dead — along with its path to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran’s navy is toast, and it isn’t mounting an effective defense. It’s lobbing missiles and suicide drones throughout the regime. That’s unified many Arab nations against Iran.
Imagine telling this to the “experts” who warned Trump it was too risky to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem during his first term. Now, many Arab nations are on the same side as Israel — against Iran.
Put these moves together. The United States now has significant control over how much oil China can buy.
Trump has numerous domestic wins. Drug overdose deaths, murders and inflation are down significantly. The border is closed. Many Democrats and Republicans have asserted that amnesty is the only way to deal with the tens of millions of illegal immigrants already here. But around 3 million have left the country under Trump, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That includes more than 2 million self-deportations. Trump will proudly celebrate the country on its 250th birthday, too.
The country still faces major challenges. Installing a U.S.-friendly government in Iran and lowering housing prices are two obvious ones. But Xi’s assertion no longer rings true. China’s global influence is waning, while America has her swagger back.
Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.
