Israel may not be President Donald Trump’s only international policy threatening MAGA unity, said Ransom Miller, reporting for the Hill.
“More Trump voters disapprove of the president’s handling of China than any other foreign policy issue,” said Ransom, according to a public opinion poll by his team at the Institute for Global Affairs. “Even as Trump makes overtures to Beijing, most of his voters continue to view China as a moderate or severe threat (83 percent), and almost a third agree that it intends to destroy the U.S. or replace the world order.
Trump is facing open revolt from his base regarding Chinese student visa after he reversed course from his earlier crackdown. The president announced the U.S. would grant 600,000 H-1B visas to Chinese students in the next two years, citing international students’ high fees and the value they add to the U.S. economy. He then doubled down on Wednesday, claiming that welcoming H-1B visa workers is “MAGA.”
But Miller said his message isn’t resonating with the MAGA base, with surveys revealing that more than half of Trump’s constituency feels that Chinese students shouldn’t be allowed to study in the U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, far-right activist Laura Loomer, Fox News host Laura Ingraham and longtime Trump advisor Steve Bannon also disagree, according to Miller.
Likewise, Trump’s approach to Chinese export controls are also causing argument with his high-tariff strategy damaging American growth, while Trump signals openness to exemptions on selling advanced U.S. technology to China, including semiconductors.
“For some, this is the worst of both worlds, as Americans are forced to pay higher costs for goods and Chinese military manufacturers gain greater access to American technology,” said Miller. “Trump’s former Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger predicts that allowing semiconductor sales to China would be ‘unilaterally deindustrializing America.’”
Miller added that Trump’s former National Security Council China director described the policy as “playing 2-D chess while Beijing is playing 4-D chess.”
But while Trump clings to China many of his MAGA voters want a clean break from the Chinese economy.
“White House Senior Counsel Peter Navarro continues to argue that U.S. industrial weakness has invited foreign aggression and that the U.S. must reshore manufacturing through high tariffs,” said Miller.
From their perspective, complete withdrawal remains the end goal. Steve Bannon went so far as to advise: “If you don’t do this, you’re always going to have the threat of the gun to your head.”
“The president may be able to tamp down on a potential insurgency as he dictates what is and isn’t America First. However, if the conversation among MAGA today is any indication, the worst for Trump be yet to come,” said Miller.
Read the Hill report at this link.
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