China is toasting Trump’s repellent Afghanistan rhetoric

President Donald Trump and his most ardent supporters think that his negotiating style is pure genius. But their assessment is puerile. Arrogantly disinterested in the long game and failing to hold anything sacred, Trump has caused immense damage to U.S. alliances over the past 10 days. Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping will be laughing and toasting himself in the mirror. At least at the moment, Trump is the CCP’s greatest tool.

True, some of Trump’s fire-from-the-hip rhetoric has served America well. Only this rhetoric was able to force the Europeans to stop freeloading off the back of the U.S. military in NATO. That great alliance, which holds great value for American prosperity and security, is now becoming a true burden-sharing collaboration. Still, because of Trump’s