The sight of the Indian, Russian, and Chinese heads of state holding hands in late August led even Donald Trump to concede that the U.S. had “lost” India and Russia to China. But the president suggested that he wasn’t bothered: “May they have a long and prosperous future together!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Behind the display of bravado, Trump must surely have sensed that his approach to foreign policy was catching up with him. His signature style, which involves breaking trust with America’s friends while alternately cozying up to and lashing out at its competitors, rests on a notion central to his self-conception: the deal.

As dealmaker in chief, Trump has turned U.S. trade negotiations into a series of deals, haggled with Nvidia and AMD on China exports so America could get in on the

See Full Page