America After Trump: What will it mean for Asia and the World?

In his second term, President Donald Trump has taken a markedly less confrontational approach to China than in either his first term or the Biden administration. He has met Xi Jinping twice this year (with two more summits scheduled) and has accepted Beijing’s preferred description of US-China ties as one of “constructive strategic stability”. Is this the shape of US–China relations to come? And what might it mean for America’s relationships with its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific?

Dr Zack Cooper is one of the sharpest observers of US foreign policy, particularly as it involves Asia. He is in New Zealand as the 2026 Sir Howard Kippenberger Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Zack is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he studies US strategy in Asia, including alliance dynamics and US-China competition.