President Trump is pursuing so many initiatives that it can be difficult to identify a unifying strategy. On the domestic front, he continues working through campaign promises, while on the foreign policy front, the administration appears engaged everywhere at once: Ukraine, NATO, China, Venezuela, and Iran. Critics argue there is no coherent plan, but it is reasonable to assume Trump and his advisers are operating from a broader strategic framework.
Recently, I watched a podcast in which the host attempted to explain Trump’s foreign policy thinking. The speaker did not claim insider knowledge, and his credentials were questionable, so I approached the discussion cautiously. Still, the underlying theory was interesting enough to examine further.
Any discussion of American strategy begins with identifying the nation’s major rivals. Today, those rivals are clearly China and Russia, along with aligned or dependent states such as Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and Syria.
China has spent the last two decades steadily expanding its influence through economic, technological, diplomatic, and military means. Rather than direct confrontation, it favors gradual, long-term leverage.
Its primary strategy has been economic expansion through the Belt and Road Initiative, which finances infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Europe. These investments increase dependence on China and expand its influence over trade routes and strategic resources.
Militarily, China has strengthened its position in the South China Sea while modernizing its armed forces. Diplomatically, it presents itself as an alternative to Western leadership, particularly in the developing world. Beijing emphasizes “non-interference” in domestic affairs and avoids attaching human rights conditions to economic assistance, which appeals to many governments.
China has also invested heavily in technology and supply-chain dominance. Through its “Digital Silk Road,” it exports telecommunications infrastructure, surveillance systems, and smart-city technology. Countries that adopt these systems often become dependent on Chinese technology and manufacturing.
In addition, China uses media organizations, cultural programs, and information campaigns to promote the image of Chinese stability and Western decline. Its broader objective is not simply territorial expansion, but the creation of a China-centered economic and political order that reduces reliance on Western systems.
China has achieved major gains in parts of the developing world, though distrust of Beijing has grown in many advanced economies.
Russia’s goals differ somewhat from China’s. Moscow’s primary objective is rebuilding a sphere of influence in the former Soviet region, with Ukraine at the center of that effort.
Russia also sees itself in long-term competition with the United States and Europe. It seeks to weaken Western unity through cyber operations, propaganda, political disruption, and pressure campaigns.
A third goal is maintaining great-power status despite Russia’s relatively weak economy. To compensate, Russia relies heavily on military power, nuclear deterrence, and advanced weapons systems.
Russia’s economy remains deeply dependent on energy exports, particularly oil and gas, which it uses as a tool of influence. At home, nationalism and external conflict help reinforce support for Vladimir Putin’s government.
Russia has demonstrated resilience despite sanctions and continues exerting influence in parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. However, the Ukraine war has exposed military weaknesses, increased Russia’s isolation from the West, and strengthened NATO rather than weakening it.
How do China and Russia fit into Trump’s larger foreign policy approach?
The first element is energy independence. Trump argues that the United States weakened itself by restricting domestic energy production in pursuit of climate goals. While sustainability is important, he believes economic and strategic stability require abundant domestic oil and gas production.
The second element is recognizing how oil shapes global power.
The United States imports most of its foreign oil from Canada, with additional imports from Mexico and a handful of other countries. Because the U.S. also produces massive quantities of shale oil, exports offset much of what is imported.
China, however, is heavily dependent on imported oil. Russia is one of its largest suppliers, while major volumes also come from the Gulf states, Brazil, Iran, Angola, and Venezuela. This dependency creates a strategic vulnerability.
From this perspective, Venezuela becomes highly important.
Trump’s supporters argue that pressuring or influencing the Maduro government gives the United States leverage over Venezuelan oil exports. If Washington can limit China’s access to Venezuelan energy, China becomes more vulnerable economically and diplomatically.
There is also a secondary effect involving Cuba. Cuba relies heavily on Venezuelan oil, so disruptions in Venezuela place additional stress on the Cuban economy. Supporters of Trump’s approach believe this creates opportunities to influence political developments inside Cuba.
Iran represents the next major piece of the strategy.
Supporters of a hard line against Iran argue that Tehran destabilizes the Middle East through proxy groups, terrorism, and regional intimidation. Weakening Iran would therefore reduce threats to U.S. allies and potentially reshape the regional balance of power.
In this interpretation, pressure on Iran also creates indirect pressure on China and Russia. China depends partly on Iranian oil, while Russia and China both maintain strategic relationships with Tehran, including military cooperation.
If Iran were weakened economically or politically, several potential outcomes could follow.
First, China could lose another major energy supplier, increasing American leverage in trade negotiations.
Second, Russia and China would lose a Middle Eastern partner that often challenges Western interests.
Third, Gulf states might feel more secure, lowering tensions in the region.
Finally, the United States could shift more strategic focus away from the Middle East and toward the Pacific, where competition with China is increasingly central.
Supporters of this worldview believe such a strategy could only emerge from a populist administration willing to challenge both globalism and traditional foreign-policy assumptions. In their view, previous administrations focused too heavily on diplomacy without integrating economic leverage into broader geopolitical strategy.
Trump’s approach attempts to combine politics, trade, energy, and security into a single framework. Rather than separating economics from foreign policy, the theory is that economic dependence itself can become a strategic tool.
Critics would argue this framework oversimplifies global politics and risks escalating conflicts abroad. Supporters, however, see it as a recognition that geopolitical rivals increasingly use economics, energy, and technology as weapons of influence.
Whether one agrees with Trump’s methods or not, the underlying concept is understandable: reduce America’s vulnerabilities, increase leverage over adversaries, weaken rival power structures, and reposition the United States for long-term competition with China.
Ultimately, the argument is not that every individual action is disconnected, but that many of them are linked by a larger strategic objective centered on energy, economic leverage, and great-power competition.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
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