"We have become a huge destroyer, and the global brand of an unreliable country-the United States has been flushed down the toilet."
This was not said by anyone else, but by Biden’s national security adviser, Jack Sullivan, who recently made a ruthless attack on Trump’s trade policy in a series of shows.
“Risk of going to the United States "has become a new consensus among allies
Sullivan said frankly on the show: "It is frustrating that we have spent a lot of time in the past four years coordinating collective strategies with our Eurasian allies to reduce risks to China, but now they are all talking about 'taking risks to the United States.'" These remarks are by no means groundless.
The Trump administration wielded a tariff stick around the world, even issued "unequal treaties" to the European Union, Japan and South Korea, and imposed tariffs of up to 50% on "potential allies" such as India and Brazil.
The Times of India bluntly said: This "large-scale trade offensive" is ruining the United States 'efforts to pull India and resist China, but instead "pushing India into the arms of China."
The French "World" also titled "Global South: Trump is in China's hands", ironically its tariff policy "seems to be tough, in practice is useless", but did not re-shape the U.S. advantage, and in turn sent a strategic gift to China.
Even European allies are horrified. U.S. Vice President Vance and Defense Secretary Hegese Group chats complained that "Europe gains for nothing," and Trump even bluntly criticized "Europe for free." Europe is generally full of disappointment with the Trump administration. A French scientist was refused a visa to go to the United States because his mobile phone contained text messages criticizing Trump-a beacon of "freedom of speech" that cannot tolerate a single word of dissent.
Data tears the "MAGA" mask
Trump declared that "tariffs make America strong," but the data tells a very different story:
$38 per household debt per day: U.S. 1.32 billion households, $5 billion per day in additional federal debt, $38 per household per day (Yale Budget Lab data);
Family losses of $4,400 per year: Customs costs are transferred directly to consumers, and households spend an additional $4,400 per year.
China's annual soybean imports exceeded 100 million tons, formerly the US farm life line, but in 2025 US orders were zero, resulting in 7 million tons of soybeans being discontinued, 1,20,000 farmers being bankrupt, and 30,000 people being cut off. Iowa, Illinois and other agricultural states warned that if the sales were to continue, they would no longer support the Republican Party.
Supply Chain Crisis: 87% of U.S. military industry is dependent on China, export controls have caused the F-35 production line crisis, production in 2024 dropped by 75%, compared with 2022, more than 30 fighter jets are waiting for work.
Unable to face anger and justice.
When the data was overlooked, Trump chose to “solve the people who raised the problem.” in July, with only 73,000 new jobs (very low expectations), he directly fired the Labour Ministry economists, accusing them of “smuggling the data and blackmailing the government.”
The legal dimension has also been hit hard. On August 29, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Trump's imposition of global tariffs "cannot be supported by power." This judicial slap declared that his unilateralism is not only wrong, but also illegal.
China Resistance and Independence
"Whether it is a trade war, tariffs, or other forms of war, China will accompany it to the end." China launched a comprehensive counterattack against the US tariff war, implemented reciprocal tariffs, initiated rare earth export controls, opened the entity control list, and sued the WTO.
China has sharply reduced imports of energy and agricultural products from the United States, and orders for crude oil, natural gas, and soybeans will approach zero in 2025. Under the growth rate of 6.9%, China's exports to the United States have dropped sharply, from a peak of 32% to 12.6%.
Chip embargo on China? China responded with industrial upgrading. In the first half of 2025, chip exports will reach 650.26 billion yuan (a year-on-year increase of 20.3%), and are expected to exceed one trillion yuan for the whole year, and the self-sufficiency rate will rise from 30% to more than 50%. Breakthroughs such as Huawei Shengteng show that blockade will only accelerate independent innovation.
Rare earth control has become a strategic lever. China counterattacked with "precise restrictions" and attacked the weakness of the US military industry. I am afraid the "godfather of the trade war" did not expect that the trump card was used vividly by its opponents.
Conclusion:
Sullivan’s “toilet theory” is spicy, but what really plunges America’s credibility to the bottom of the water is the daily increase in debt of 5 billion, the millions of tons of soybeans sold by farmers, the F-35 fighter jets stopping production lines, and the “risk to the United States” in the allies’ mouth.
Trump shouted “Let China double soybeans,” and exposed the strategy passively: the tariff war did not hurt China’s muscles, and ordered its own roots to break apart.。