Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth has accused President Donald Trump of weakening US alliances and abandoning Indo-Pacific partners as he prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House. Speaking at an event organised by the Center for American Progress in Washington on 23 September 2026, Duckworth warned that the approaching Trump-Xi summit carries serious consequences for US national security, the economy, and relations with countries facing mounting pressure from Beijing.

Duckworth's Core Charge Against Trump

The Illinois senator, who sits on both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Trump is fundamentally ill-equipped to manage Washington's relationship with Beijing. 'President Trump is fundamentally unable to manage the United States' relationship with the People's Republic of China,' she said.

She went further, arguing that a genuinely successful bilateral relationship would look nothing like current US policy. 'A successful bilateral relationship doesn't look like chaotic tariffs, leaving American farmers devastated, throwing our allies under the bus to cozy up to dictators and creating more challenges for Americans,' Duckworth said. Her remarks drew on official visits this year to Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore, where she met government, defence, and economic leaders who, she said, had voiced concern about the direction of US trade and defence policy.

What a Sound China Policy Should Look Like

Duckworth outlined her vision of effective China engagement as one that shields American consumers from economic coercion while locking in firm commitments on artificial intelligence, upholding human rights, and preserving US strategic advantages. 'It looks like protecting Americans from economic coercion and instability, finalizing real commitments on AI, protecting human rights and maintaining our advantages in the areas that matter the most while building our national security, not sacrificing all of these, which Trump continues to do,' she said.

She also called for stronger, more resilient supply chains to insulate US consumers from external economic disruption — a concern that has grown more acute since the escalation of US-China trade tensions earlier this year.

Legislative Agenda in the Indo-Pacific

Beyond the rhetorical salvo, Duckworth pointed to concrete legislation she has championed. Her Strategy for Crisis Management Act seeks to sharpen US preparations and deepen coordination with regional partners during crises that could escalate into armed conflict in the South China Sea. The measure has been incorporated into the Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the annual defence policy bill and is awaiting a floor vote by the full Senate.

She has also backed provisions aimed at strengthening cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies on asymmetric military operations. Her Indo-Pacific Medical Readiness programme addresses a logistical gap — improving healthcare access for US military personnel and their families stationed across a region where patients may need to travel significant distances for treatment.

What Duckworth Wants from the Trump-Xi Summit

The senator urged the Trump administration to use the White House meeting to push concrete progress on economic coercion, regional security, artificial intelligence governance, and human rights — and to do so while actively reassuring nervous allies rather than leaving them to draw their own conclusions about Washington's reliability. This comes amid a broader pattern of anxiety among US partners in the Indo-Pacific about whether American commitments in the region remain durable. Notably, Duckworth's critique echoes concerns raised by a growing number of bipartisan voices in Washington who argue that transactional diplomacy risks hollowing out the alliance architecture the US spent decades building.