U.S. President Donald Trump shakes fingers with members of Congress as he departs following his State of the Union handle within the Home Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Feb. 24, 2026.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Pictures
BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump prevented immediately naming China in his State of the Union handle Tuesday, simply weeks earlier than his scheduled journey to Beijing.
In what was the longest State of the Union (SOTU) speech by any U.S. president, Trump lined a variety of matters from inflation and tariffs to inventory market data.
However notably, he didn’t immediately point out China, aside from a reference to “Russian and Chinese language army expertise” that guarded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the course of the operation that led to the seize of the overseas chief.
Throughout Trump’s first time period from 2017 to 2021, he made direct references to the Chinese language nation in all three of his State of the Union addresses. The remarks had largely highlighted the menace from Beijing to the U.S.
“Trump does not need to decide a struggle with China in an election yr,” mentioned Gabriel Wildau, managing director, Teneo, referring to the approaching U.S. midterm elections in November.
“Stability in U.S.-China relations is a precedence for the president not less than this yr and probably for the remainder of his time period,” Wildau mentioned.
With a purpose to preserve that relationship, Trump plans to go to Beijing from March 31 to April 2, the primary journey by a U.S. president since 2017.
However China’s overseas ministry has but to substantiate actual dates for the go to, identified George Chen, associate at The Asia Group. “That makes Trump look extra determined to go to China greater than how a lot [Chinese president Xi Jinping] desires to host him.”
“The shortage of mentions about China in Trump’s speech is one other instance to indicate how Trump stays cautious now about U.S.-China relations,” Chen mentioned.
China and the U.S. ratcheted up tariffs on every others’ items final spring to properly over 100%, earlier than reaching a commerce truce in October to convey tariffs beneath 50% for the subsequent yr. Beijing additionally tightened its restrictions on uncommon earths exports worldwide. The Asian nation dominates the worldwide provide chain for uncommon earths, crucial minerals utilized in a swath of applied sciences.
“The state of the union confirmed Trump thinks glorifying U.S. army triumphs over weak states like Venezuela makes higher election yr politics than preventing with China over uncommon earths,” Wildau mentioned.
Uncertainty round tariffs picked up over the weekend after the U.S. Supreme Courtroom final week struck down tariffs that Trump had imposed on a swath of nations final yr. Trump then rapidly pointed to another foundation for elevating the worldwide tariff charge.
In social media posts on Weibo, two Chinese language state media shops highlighted opposition inside Congress to Trump’s speech. Native consideration in China to Trump’s handle was in any other case muted.
Trump’s restricted point out of China additionally displays how unpredictable his coverage on Beijing could be, mentioned Yue Su, principal economist on the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
“Against this, [Democrat U.S. President Joe] Biden persistently referred to China in his speeches, which underscored a level of continuity and predictability in his China coverage,” she mentioned, referring to Trump’s predecessor.
The Democratic Get together’s rebuttal to Trump’s State of the Union Tuesday targeted immediately on Beijing.
“However because the president spoke of his perceived successes tonight, he continues to cede financial energy and technological power to Russia, bow all the way down to China, bow all the way down to a Russian dictator and make plans for conflict with Iran,” mentioned Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, who gave the rebuttal.
A giant deal coming?
For a U.S. president who has known as out Xi by identify in public speeches, the absence of mentioning the world’s second-largest economic system within the SOTU speech marks a strategic transfer.
If Trump seals a deal throughout his Beijing journey, “he might simply body it as a serious achievement for his base,” mentioned EIU’s Su. “And if negotiations don’t go properly, a retaliatory or hardline method may very well be offered in a equally optimistic gentle domestically.”
Subscribe now
Steven Okun, founder and CEO of Singapore-based APAC Advisors, mentioned that this yr, the speech was understandably extra targeted on matters that influence the midterm elections, which do not embody China.
However he identified that if Trump actually wished to handle U.S. client affordability, reducing tariffs on China would “present up a lot faster in folks’s pocketbooks.”
“So, we may even see a deal on tariffs with China finish of March or early April,” Okun mentioned Wednesday on CNBC’s “Entry Center East.”
Many U.S. firm executives are anticipated to accompany Trump on his journey to China in a couple of weeks. Conferences with Chinese language counterparts could be a chance to help offers, together with Chinese language purchases of U.S. agricultural merchandise.
When requested about Trump’s restricted dialogue of China, Marko Papic, a chief strategist at international funding analysis agency BCA Analysis, merely mentioned: “A giant deal is coming!”
—CNBC’s Sydney Goh contributed to this report.