U.S. President Donald Trump spent the first three years of his presidency balancing the demands of hard-liners who wanted a crackdown on China against his own desire to pursue a trade deal and cultivate a stronger relationship with Xi Jinping.
The unexpected order Wednesday to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston made one thing clear: The hawks are now in charge.
Eager to blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic and fed up with what U.S. officials call a history of espionage and intellectual-property theft, Trump has allowed a small group of advisers led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to push U.S. policy toward its most antagonistic in decades. The result is a series of sanctions, restrictions and condemnations that culminated in the Houston decision.