By Isabella Torregiani
4:44pm PDT, Jul 3, 2025
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According to U.S. Chief of Protocol
Monica Crowley, President
Donald Trump is taking a bold foreign policy stance she calls a "reverse Nixon" — attempting to drive a wedge between Russia and China, just as
Richard Nixon once brought them closer together.
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While speaking on the "Pod Force One" podcast, Monica Crowley, who previously worked alongside Richard Nixon, said President Donald Trump's latest strategy aims to strengthen ties with Russia in order to offset China's growing influence. "President Trump is doing almost, or wants to, I think, do a reverse Nixon and try to improve relations with Moscow, to use Russia as a counterweight against growing Chinese power," she said. "Presidents of both parties for decades have exerted themselves to keep both countries apart, and then Joe Biden, of course, drove them together, which is madness."
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Back in 1972, Richard Nixon famously visited China after 25 years of diplomatic silence — a move designed to isolate the Soviet Union by opening relations with Beijing. Now, Trump appears to be flipping that strategy, softening his tone toward Russia, even as the country continues its war in Ukraine, while adopting a tougher stance on China through aggressive trade policy. Trump's relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been tense. Earlier this year, Trump accused him of being ungrateful for U.S. aid and even labeled him a "dictator." Trump told Zelensky during a February Oval Office meeting, "You're right now not in a very good position. You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position."
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Monica Crowley noted that Richard Nixon opened relations with China as a "strategic counterweight" to Soviet power, giving the U.S. time to regain stability. "They worshipped [Nixon] in China," Crowley said, "because he had opened China to the rest of the world." However, times have changed, she emphasized, noting that Nixon would have recognized that. "Now, President Nixon was nothing if not adaptable to the changing world, so I think he would understand now that China is a complete adversary and an existential threat to the United States," she said.
