America Has Her Swagger Back

Victor Joecks
Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:03:37 -0700
Opinion

In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared, "The east is rising, and the west is declining."

It certainly looked that way during former President Joe Biden's term. In August 2021, Biden surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban. During the chaotic pullout, a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops. Medieval barbarians humbled the mighty United States and took control of billions of dollars of military equipment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sure noticed. Just months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Shortly before the attack, Biden mused that a "minor incursion" would lead to disunity among Ukraine's Western allies. Not a great deterrence strategy.
Updated: Mon Mar 09, 2026

In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared, "The east is rising, and the west is declining."

It certainly looked that way during former President Joe Biden's term. In August 2021, Biden surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban. During the chaotic pullout, a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops. Medieval barbarians humbled the mighty United States and took control of billions of dollars of military equipment.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sure noticed. Just months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Shortly before the attack, Biden mused that a "minor incursion" would lead to disunity among Ukraine's Western allies. Not a great deterrence strategy.

Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China expanded its global influence. China talked about reducing future carbon emissions while simultaneously building coal power plants to grow its economy. Under Biden, the United States rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, one of his many moves undermining domestic energy production. In 2023, Biden let a Chinese spy balloon float over the country. The precursor chemicals for fentanyl flowed from China to Mexico and across the southern border. More than 200,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses during Biden's term.

America struggled domestically under Biden. Inflation exploded. Schools taught students that America is systemically racist. Hamas supporters took over college campuses with few consequences. Millions of illegal immigrants streamed across the wide-open Southern border. Even blue cities buckled financially under the weight of the influx of invaders.

In July 2024, Hamas supporters tore down and burned American flags at Union Station in Washington, D.C. They chanted "Allahu Akbar" and vandalized monuments.

For the vast majority of human history, that alone would have been proof that a nation was conquered and doomed to decline. The ascendancy of the East looked assured.

No longer. Look at what President Donald Trump has done in fewer than 14 months. Under pressure from the Trump administration, the Panamanian government recently took control of the Panama Canal from a company connected to China.

In a daring raid, U.S. forces arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum recently sat down with the acting president, Delcy Rodiguez. She appears willing to work with Trump. That will ensure Venezuela's plentiful oil and mineral resources benefit America's interests, not China's.

Trump has choked off oil to Cuba, much of which used to come from Venezuela. The country's communist regime appears on the verge of collapse and is ready to strike a deal with Trump.

Trump's foreign policy wins aren't limited to the Western Hemisphere. Many of the leaders of the "Death to America" regime in Tehran are dead — along with its path to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran's navy is toast. Iran isn't mounting an effective defense. It's lobbing missiles and suicide drones throughout the regime. That's unified many Arab nations against Iran.

Imagine telling this to the self-proclaimed experts who warned Trump it was too risky to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem during his first term. Now, many Arab nations are on the same side as Israel — against another Arab nation.

Put these moves together. The United States now has significant control over how much oil China can buy.

Trump has a massive number of domestic wins. Drug overdose deaths, murders and inflation are down significantly. The border is closed. Many Democrats and Republicans have asserted that amnesty is the only way to deal with the tens of millions of illegal immigrants already here. But around 3 million illegal immigrants have left the country under Trump, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That includes more than 2 million self-deportations. Trump will proudly celebrate the country on its 250th birthday, too.

The country still faces major challenges. Installing a U.S.-friendly government in Iran and lowering housing prices are two obvious ones.

But Xi's assertion no longer rings true. China's global influence is waning, while America has her swagger back.