Just to be clear, Trump is provoking a cold war w/ China solely to cover his a** on corona. This is rank opportunism, not strategy. There is no Long Telegram here. You may believe we need to be tougher on CN or that a cold war-style contest is unavoidable. Maybe so. But that’s /1

not what this is. What T wants most is for Xi to praise him as a great leader and a friend. But China is the world’s second power and won’t flatter T like some toady. So if praise is not forthcoming, T will exacerbate tensions for its domestic, rally-round-the-flag effects. So /2

we’re engaging on a dangerous, expensive, and potentially conflictual geopolitical course simply bc T wants to get re-elected, not bc T himself is a China hawk or believes or understand the arguments that school makes. He doesn’t and doesn’t care. CN hawks are using his /3

desperation. T is a useful idiot for a whole slew of think-tankers & ideologues itching to go head-to-head w/ CN. For some1 who promised to end overseas misadventures, I’m amazed T can’t see this. This is a recipe for overreaction, misinterpretation,& self-fulfilling prophecies/4