Xi Insulted Trump With Just Two Words. Trump Was Forced To RespondJohn Loftus
Editor at Large
May 15, 2026 11:21 AM ET
Thucydides trap.
Chinese President Xi Jinping used these two words in a speech delivered Thursday at the high-stakes summit with President Donald Trump and a delegation of cabinet members, as well as top American CEOs.
In his opening remarks, Xi referenced the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, a long war between Athens and Sparta that began in 431 B.C.
“Can China and the United States overcome the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and create a new paradigm of major-power relations?” he said.
Named after the Greek historian Thucydides, the Thucydides Trap is a theory that when a declining state power is faced with a rising one, war becomes almost “inevitable.”
“It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable,” Thucydides observed.
So, Xi pretty much said to Trump and the rest of the world: “We are the ascending power about to overtake you. Let’s make sure you don’t have a temper tantrum and start World War III because your global dominance has waned.”
Interestingly enough, Trump and the White House thought it required an official response. But unsurprisingly, they said Xi was referring to the Biden Administration.
more
https://dailycaller.com/2026/05/15/chinese-president-xi-jinping-summit-beijing-donald-trump-thucydides-trap/
