Trump’s China cacophony not music to American ears

Ransom Miller | Jan 11, 2026

By Ransom Miller, Research Associate

This article appeared in the East Asia Forum on January 11, 2026

US–China tensions are easing. In the aftermath of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in October 2025, officials from both countries have opened dialogue on everything from fentanyl and soybeans to Ukraine and Taiwan. Trump has notably shifted from threatening China to courting it. But is it enough to win over public support for the President’s approach to China?

It might just be. Prior to the Trump–Xi negotiations, US public opinion consistently disapproved of Trump’s aggressive approach and wanted more US engagement with China. China is seen as a threat to the United States, but the risks of serious competition appear too great. If the Trump administration continues to pursue equilibrium with China, polling indicates that the US populace will support the policy.

Amid escalating US–China trade disputes and prior to the Trump–Xi meeting, Trump’s approach to China had been unpopular. Most US voters were convinced Trump’s policies made tensions with China worse, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group from October 6–14 2025. Out of the 13 foreign policy issues surveyed, Trump’s net approval rating was negative on 11 issues, with China as the worst-rated issue.

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Read more of Ransom’s article in the East Asia Forum

Written by Ransom Miller

Ransom Miller is a research associate at the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group.

This post is part of Independent America, a research program led out by Jonathan Guyer, which seeks to explore how US foreign policy could better be tailored to new global realities and to the preferences of American voters.