Can Trump Still Get His Way? Iran War, Xi Talks Expose Limits Of US Power

US President Donald Trump spent the week seeking to project American power at the United Nations and during a White House summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the response from allies and rivals highlighted the limits of what Washington can achieve through pressure and threats.

Trump’s diplomacy unfolded against a difficult backdrop: the Iran war is pushing up US gasoline prices and weighing on his approval ratings, European and Asian allies have resisted calls to support the conflict, and China’s growing economic leverage has complicated his approach to Beijing. According to Reuters, the administration is also confronting limited progress on Ukraine and Russia and an intensifying technology challenge from China, while Trump’s Republican Party faces November’s midterm elections, which could further restrict his political room for manoeuvre.

The week also underscored how Trump has shaken up the rules-based global order that Washington helped build after World War Two since returning to the White House last year. At the United Nations on Tuesday, he defended the use of American power, threatened to “annihilate” Iran if it did not agree to a deal and invoked the principle that “to the victor belong the spoils” while defending his coercive approach towards OPEC member Venezuela.

He also signalled that he could deploy the US military again to pursue his international objectives.

Trump’s Pressure Meets Resistance

The assertive tone at the UN did not translate into agreement from several governments.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned against a global "return to the law of the jungle", arguing that countries faced a choice between a world governed by power and coercion and a "civilized international society."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticised foreign interference in his country’s October election and said: "we ⁠do not need aircraft carriers patrolling our waters, we need cooperation to stem the flow of weapons and money that fuel crime.”

Most European and Asian allies have already rejected Trump’s demands for assistance in the Iran conflict, which he launched alongside Israel without consulting them.

The White House disputed the suggestion that Trump’s foreign policy had stalled. Responding to Reuters questions, a White House official said Trump was "not concerned with posturing but about results" and argued that some foreign leaders’ public comments differed from what they had told the president privately.

The official also said Trump’s UN speech had highlighted his "various wins in advancing US interests around the world", including preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Tehran has consistently said its nuclear programme is intended for peaceful purposes.

Iran War Becomes Central Test

The conflict with Iran has become one of the most difficult issues of Trump’s second term.

Trump began the war alongside Israel on February 28, and it has continued for nearly seven months. The fighting has disrupted global energy supplies and expanded into other parts of the region, most recently affecting Yemen and the Red Sea shipping corridor.

Iran has continued to resist despite the military and economic pressure placed on it, leaving Washington without a resolution to a conflict that has also created political problems for Trump at home.

At the UN, Trump sought to defend the campaign while declaring that “America is back,” stronger than ever. Earlier in his second term, Trump had pointed to foreign policy achievements including a Gaza ceasefire and the capture of Venezuela’s leader. But the continuing Iran conflict has shifted attention towards an unresolved war that is dividing Trump’s political base.

According to Reuters, the conflict has also driven up US gasoline prices and contributed to a decline in Trump’s approval ratings. With Republican control of Congress at stake in the November midterms, the war could become an additional political challenge for the president.

The developments come as some world leaders prepare for the possibility that US influence could wane after the midterms, with less than two-and-a-half years remaining in Trump’s second term.

Xi Talks Deliver Limited Results

Trump’s meeting with Xi on Thursday also highlighted the constraints facing his administration.

Xi's state visit was heavy on ceremony but produced limited movement on a long list of difficult issues, including trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and Iran.

The clearest outcome was a two-month extension of a trade truce between the United States and China that had been due to expire in November.

The meeting took place as China oversees growing trade with the rest of the world while the US economy deals with the consequences of the Iran conflict. Beijing has also retained leverage through its control of rare earth minerals, which are important to technology and automobile manufacturing.

Trump did not publicly dwell on differences with Xi. Chinese state media, however, reported that Xi urged Trump behind closed doors to oppose Taiwanese independence.

Taiwan, which is democratically governed and claimed by China, remains the most contentious issue in US-China relations.

Trump’s restrained approach towards Xi also marked a shift from his earlier tariff-driven confrontation with Beijing. China has previously demonstrated that it can restrict rare earth supplies in response to pressure.

"Trump sees himself taking us back to a world where might makes right," said Brett Bruen, who was ​a foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration and now heads the Global Situation Room strategic consultancy. "But it’s noteworthy that he goes all wobbly when it comes to Xi Jinping and ascendant Chinese power."

Ukraine And Greenland Show Other Limits

Trump has also struggled to extract movement from Russia and Ukraine.

His effort to persuade both sides to accept even a limited ceasefire covering energy infrastructure failed to gain significant traction, leaving another major foreign-policy objective unresolved.

Greenland produced a similar gap between Trump’s original demands and the eventual arrangement. Trump touted an agreement with Denmark and Greenland that would expand the US military presence on the Arctic island.

But the agreement stopped short of his earlier demand that the United States should “own” Greenland. It also fell short of his threat to take the territory by force, if necessary, from Denmark, a fellow NATO member.

“A year ago, few countries dared cross Trump,” Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, wrote on X. “Now Canada, Europe, China, Iran, Russia and others are all more willing to say no.”

Trump Questions His Own Influence

While discussing artificial intelligence, he proposed that the technology be rebranded as “super intelligence”. He then asked world leaders: “Let’s see if I have any power. Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. We’re going to find out pretty soon.”

The remark came after a week in which Trump sought to demonstrate American power across several fronts, from Iran and Venezuela to China, Ukraine, Russia and Greenland.

The Iran war remains unresolved, allies have resisted involvement, negotiations over Ukraine and Russia have made little progress, and the Xi summit produced a limited extension of a trade truce rather than agreements on the wider disputes between Washington and Beijing.

The unresolved issues now coincide with a domestic political test in November, when the Republican Party’s control of Congress will be at stake. With less than two-and-a-half years remaining in his second term, Trump faces a series of foreign policy disputes in which pressure has not consistently produced the outcomes he has sought.