US President Donald Trump on Friday moved to reframe a remark he attributed to Chinese President Xi Jinping about America being in decline, saying Xi was referring to the United States under former President Joe Biden not his own administration.
“When President Xi very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation, he was referring to the tremendous damage we suffered during the four years of Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden administration, and on that score, he was 100% correct,” Trump wrote on Truth Social ahead of the second day of his Beijing summit with Xi.
It was not clear whether Trump was referencing something Xi said privately or in any public exchange during the visit.
What Xi Actually Said
On Day 1 of the summit, Xi did not use the phrase “declining nation.” He did, however, caution against falling into the “Thucydides Trap” a concept in international relations theory drawn from the rivalry between ancient Athens and Sparta.
In his opening remarks in Beijing, Xi said, according to a live translation: “The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the US overcome the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and create a new paradigm of major-country relations?”
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The theory was coined by Harvard professor Graham Allison. It holds that an established power eventually clashes with a rising one after feeling threatened by its ascent. Allison named it after ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who wrote that the rise of Athens and the fear it instilled in Sparta made war inevitable.
Seated across from Trump, Xi also pointed to “great changes unseen in a century,” signalling a shift away from the post-World War II order dominated by the United States.
Trump’s Pushback
Shortly after Trump’s Truth Social post, the White House amplified the message, repeating his criticism of Biden.
Trump argued that America had undergone an “incredible rise” during what he described as the “16 spectacular months” of his presidency, citing record stock markets, a strong job market, fresh investment commitments, military strength, and renewed global influence.
He also claimed Xi had congratulated him on several of his administration’s achievements during their ongoing summit.
“Two years ago, we were, in fact, a Nation in decline. On that, I fully agree with President Xi,” Trump wrote. “But now, the United States is the hottest Nation anywhere in the world.”
Trump closed the post by expressing hope that US-China ties would emerge “stronger and better than ever before.”
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