President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to reframe a reported comment by Chinese President Xi Jinping describing the United States as a nation in decline, arguing that Xi was referring to damage done under former President Joe Biden, not his own administration.

“When President Xi very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation, he was referring to the tremendous damage we suffered during the four years of Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump wrote, adding that Xi was “100% correct” about that period.

Trump’s post came during his visit to China, where he and Xi held their first formal meeting Wednesday. Trump greeted the Chinese leader warmly upon arrival, telling him, “It’s an honor to be your friend.” Talks continued Thursday, with Trump telling Fox News host Sean Hannity that Xi expressed willingness to help broker a deal between the U.S. and Iran, including the potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

In the same Truth Social post, Trump listed what he called the achievements of his administration, among them strong stock markets, job growth, and the U.S. military campaign against Iran, which he described as “to be continued” despite an ongoing ceasefire.

The backdrop to Trump’s post is a documented shift in Chinese official thinking. The New York Times reported that Chinese nationalists and state-linked commentators increasingly view Trump’s handling of U.S. affairs as validating Xi’s worldview of “the rise of the East and decline of the West.” A study cited in the piece found that official Chinese sources’ use of “American decline” language doubled last year.

Asia Group Chairman Kurt Campbell wrote in Foreign Affairs on Monday that Xi “believes firmly that China’s rise is a historical certainty and that the United States will continue its hurtling decline.”

Trump closed his post on an upbeat note. “Now, the United States is the hottest nation anywhere in the world,” he wrote, “and hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)