With the Trump-Xi summit set for May 14–15, the United States is racing to contain the Iran crisis before it poisons the table. The Hill reports that as Washington's attention splits between two theaters, China's leverage in the coming talks is growing — and Saudi Arabia is quietly diversifying its security partnerships away from Washington.
Eisenhower knew the cost of fighting on too many fronts at once. His farewell warning wasn't only about defense contractors; it was about the way accumulated foreign entanglements hollow out a nation's negotiating posture. A republic that arrives at the table exhausted and divided does not bargain — it concedes.
The Founders gave Congress the war power and the commerce power for a reason: so no single hand could drag the republic into a crisis that hands adversaries free leverage. That constitutional order is being tested right now, with the clock running.