Donald Trump boarded Air Force One for Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, chasing a familiar high. He wants to talk about tariffs, farm deals, and a new U.S.-China “Board of Trade.” He wants to look like the ultimate dealmaker.
But you cannot outrun a geopolitical wildfire.
Originally scheduled for March, this trip was delayed by two months [latimes.com]. The reason? The massive breakout of the joint U.S.-Israel war against Iran. Trump publicly insists that the U.S. “does not need any help with Iran.” Yet, he admitted he will have a “long talk” about the conflict with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The juxtaposition is a masterclass in the contradictions of the modern warfare state.
The Illusion of “America First” Non-Intervention
For years, Trump won over a segment of the liberty movement by railing against permanent wars and foreign quagmires. Today, that rhetoric lies in tatters. His administration is actively bombing a sovereign nation and funding a brutal regional war.
Libertarians understand a fundamental truth: War is the health of the State.
It expands executive power. It erodes civil liberties. It destroys wealth. Trump arrives in Beijing not as a confident titan of industry, but as a distracted emperor trying to manage a multi-front crisis. He needs a quick domestic public relations win on trade to distract voters from the chaos his military intervention has unleashed.
The True Cost of War: Inflation and Blockades
The state always hides the true bill for its aggression. While the Pentagon burns through billions of dollars in munitions, the American consumer pays the real price at the pump and the grocery store.
The ongoing U.S.-Israel naval blockade has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz. This is a critical chokepoint for the world’s energy supply. The result? A severe global energy shock that is driving massive domestic inflation.
This is a double tax on the American public:
- Citizens pay upfront for the bombs dropped in the Middle East.
- Citizens pay artificially inflated prices for energy because the state broke the global market.
Government intervention in foreign lands always yields devastating economic consequences at home.
“Professional Liars” and Historical Blowback
As Trump flew out, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, released a scathing manifesto on X. He condemned the U.S. intervention, calling it a war between a “proud people” and “professional liars who fabricated justifications for atrocity.”
Libertarians hold no brief for the authoritarian theological regime in Tehran. However, we must remain ruthlessly honest about our own government’s history. Baghaei’s phrase—”fabricated justifications”—strikes a chord because it is the exact blueprint of American foreign policy for a century. From the Gulf of Tonkin to Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, the state routinely relies on professional liars to manufacture consent for empire.
Furthermore, the Iranian state actively invokes the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overthrew their democratically elected prime minister. This is a textbook example of blowback. Decades of Washington’s meddling did not create democracy; it created the very adversarial regime the U.S. is bombing today.
The Bottom Line
Trump’s trip to Beijing is a desperate attempt to pretend it is business as usual. But you cannot decouple economic prosperity from military hubris. The state cannot bomb global energy hubs, enforce naval blockades, and expect a thriving domestic economy.
As long as Washington prioritizes empire over liberty, the American taxpayer will continue to fund the destruction abroad and suffer the inflation at home.
