America’s China Policy under the Trump Administration, 2017–2021: Perspectives from Mead’s Foreign Policy Traditions

The disruptive shift in US foreign policy under President Donald J. Trump is examined in this article, with a focus on America’s engagement with China during the Trump administration. The US’ approach towards the Indo-Pacific, the Trade War with China, and China’s political system are analysed here using the framework of Walter Russell Mead’s foreign policy traditions—Hamiltonian, Wilsonian, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian. In essence, Trump’s China policy presents a complex blend of the Mead schools with a heavy Jacksonian flavour—characterized by assertive nationalism, economic protectionism and unapologetic realpolitik.