Biden’s Spy Balloon Talks vs. Trump’s Ballooning Tariffs
A peak at how the two presidents went about handling the China problem.
During the Chinese spy balloon saga, the Joe Biden White House told us all sorts of untrue things. Things like: It wasn’t a spy craft; it was for scientific purposes. It’s not something we are even worried about. The ignominious administration also didn’t bother to shoot it down for a week … and after it had traversed the entire U.S.
Turns out, it was a spy balloon, yet the Biden administration’s biggest worry was that the American people’s awareness of it would hurt relations with Communist China. President Biden also worried that doing something about the balloon — which had invaded American airspace — would upset Beijing.
The Trump administration has just made public the readout from a meeting between former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart, Zhu Haiquan. China was able to put the Biden administration in quite a pickle.
According to Fox News: “Blinken stated that if the presence of the balloon were revealed publicly, it could have ‘profound implications for our relationship’ with China, particularly amid efforts to stabilize the bilateral relationship with Beijing. … The readout said that the incident could also have complicated Blinken’s travel plans to China in early February 2023, if not quickly resolved. Blinken ultimately postponed the trip until June 2023.”
The Air Force detected the balloon as early as January 28, 2023. The Biden administration was in talks with China on February 1 and told the American people about the balloon on February 2. The balloon wasn’t shot down until February 4.
Even at the time, the long wait to shoot down the balloon seemed like a dereliction of duty.
While I don’t pretend that foreign relations are simple, this sort of obvious incursion into American airspace should have been dealt with swiftly. If the shoe were on the other foot, China wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot down an American spy balloon. Shoot first, ask questions later.
What Biden and his team were unable or unwilling to understand is that China doesn’t play by the rules and is happy to be a bully on the world stage. The Chinese were more than happy to push around senile and apathetic Joe Biden.
Not so with President Donald Trump. Many of his foreign policy moves have been aimed at reining in China. Trump was right about China in his first term, and he is even more right in his second term. The Chinese are trying to dislodge American hegemony. It’s a shadow war that Trump is pushing out into the open.
His recent tariffs are mostly about China. Yesterday, the president postponed most other nations’ tariffs but slapped a 125% tariff on China. Why is this a good thing? Entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O'Leary explains it perfectly:
104% [now 125%] tariffs on China are not enough. I’m advocating 400%. I do business in China. They don’t play by the rules. They’ve been in the [World Trade Organization] for decades. They have never abided by any of the rules they agreed to when they came in for decades. They cheat. They steal. They steal [intellectual property]. I can’t litigate in their courts. They take product technology — they steal it, they manufacture it, and sell it back here. … I want Xi on an airplane to Washington to level the playing field. This is not about tariffs anymore. Nobody has taken on China yet. … As someone who actually does business there, I’ve had enough. I speak for millions of Americans who have [intellectual properties] that have been stolen by the Chinese. … The government cheats and steals, and finally an administration … puts up and says, ‘Enough!’ … Xi can only stay the supreme leader if people are employed. … It’s time to squeeze Chinese heads into the wall now!
People need to listen to WHY Kevin O'Leary is advocating for 400% tariffs on China, what China has been doing in criminal
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 9, 2025
“I do business in China. They don’t play by the rules. They’ve been in the World Trade Organization for decades. They have never abided by any of the rules… pic.twitter.com/YIUFJP9vCb
Intellectual property theft is a huge problem for businesses that deal with China. But the market there is so huge that it’s hard to resist. The tariff route might actually be effective if Trump is able to rally his allies to join in. Perhaps that’s what the postponement of tariffs for the rest of the world is about.
The Panama Canal is also about China. The U.S. is now looking out for its own interests, and this administration sees that China could potentially create a chokehold on that vital supply route without intervention. China is an ever-looming menace, especially for Taiwan. If China invades, it will also take steps to hamstring the U.S. from being effective in responding.
The pitch for acquiring Greenland is also about China (and, by extension, Russia).
President Trump wants to cut China down to size while making the U.S. safer. This would benefit the entire globe as well. When it comes to China, the difference between the two presidents’ stances couldn’t be more stark. Biden didn’t want to rock the boat, and China walked all over him. Trump is sending title waves of doom all the way to Beijing. It has been a long time coming, and we hope it’s effective.
