Why Donald Trump needs a short-term win in Iran before he visits Xi Jinping in China

2026-03-30 - 13:32

The recent surge in US service members in the Middle East suggested the Iran war could become a protracted, low-intensity conflict as Donald Trump eyes his trip to China in May, Chinese military analysts said. The deployment of elite forces and the American president’s recent tactics in Venezuela indicated Washington was highly aware of and seeking to avoid a costly drawn-out war like Vietnam, they added. On Sunday, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported that several hundred US Army...