A damning report released on Monday from Senate Democrats raises alarm bells about how President Donald Trump’s actions in office have hurt America on the world stage and are boosting China’s fortunes.
The report entitled “The Price of Retreat: America Cedes Global Leadership to China” was released by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and it pulls together information collected via meetings with international charities, foreign officials, and U.S. companies. In a press release accompanying the document, the Democrats conclude that Trump’s failure to come up with a “whole-of-government” approach to international strategy “has created space for China to expand its global influence in ways that harm American economic and security interests.”
“While President Trump retreats from every corner of the world—attacking allies, slashing America’s diplomatic tools and embracing adversaries—China is building influence, expanding relationships and reshaping the global order to its advantage,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement.
Several areas of concern were highlighted in the report.
It criticizes Trump’s haphazard tariff policy, noting that since taking office in January, his administration has announced new or revised tariff policies over 50 times. The tariffs have harmed longstanding international alliances between the U.S. and other nations, and have pushed some of those nations to consider moving closer to China since that nation has sought to grow its sphere of international influence.
In particular, the report notes that Trump tariffs “have direct consequences” on American military readiness and the ability of the U.S. defense industry to sell their products on the international market.
In another area, the report points out that the decision to severely curtail international aid—particularly via cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development, led by Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency—are threatening vulnerable people who depend on that help. At the same time, China has increased its planned spending on aid, allowing them to be seen as a more reliable ally than America.
America has been hurt by a “brain drain” under Trump, the report notes. As China has been striving to surpass America as a major source of intellectual talent, the report explains that the Trump administration has cut federal grants for research and has attacked universities and international students attending those schools.
Trump also chose to eliminate the unit in the State Department tasked with countering disinformation while also cutting funding for Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, two federally funded news outlets. The report explains that while America has been retreating on providing the world with information, “China spends over a billion dollars annually on propaganda and foreign media manipulation.”
Other recent data has shown the cost of the Trump-led retreat.
Under Trump, approval of America has dropped by double digits in multiple countries, according to recent data by the Pew Research Center. Nineteen of the 24 countries surveyed viewed the U.S. more negatively in this year than in 2024, when former President Joe Biden was in the White House. A key element of Trump’s presidency has been renewed friction with longtime allies, including border nations like Canada and Mexico, where positively views of the U.S. have fallen sharply.
Trump’s economic policies are causing chaos for both businesses and families, allowing an opening for China to increase their global reach and influence.
Despite promising to “make America great again,” Trump is instead locked in on ideas and rhetoric that appear to help China more than any other country.