David Rohde: Trump’s War Against Iran Put Him in a Weaker Negotiating Position with China

EXCERPT:

ROHDE: “I think the stakes are high for the president on multiple levels in terms of U.S. trade and U.S. farmers. But Iran is getting in the middle of all this and complicating it all. And he is — he does come in with a — in a weaker position. China likes, to be blunt, they like it whenever American wars fail. They see, they call them regime change wars. They were very happy with Iraq and Afghanistan. And so, they don’t want to see the U.S. succeed here. They do want to see more oil come out of the Strait. So I don’t think Xi will be saying much that will change anything to the Iranians that are going to change the outcome of this war. Trump’s also going to talk about Taiwan. He’s going to talk about Jimmy Lai, other people that are in prison, democracy advocates imprisoned in China, and then try to get some kind of trade deal. But I’m not optimistic. Again, by choosing to launch this war on Iran, Trump’s put himself in a weaker position with China.”