Trump’s Gunboat Diplomacy Hands China $55 Trillion Economic Edge

With one armada in the Caribbean and another off Iran, Donald Trump isn’t shy about picking a fight. The risk is he loses sight of how American power has worked to deter costly conflicts in the places that count most.

For more than a decade, American strategists have called for a pivot to Asia, where the world’s economic growth is centered and the economy is on track to hit $55 trillion. Make that the priority, and a couple of things follow: The US needs allies to stave off China — and should at least pay lip service to global rules, if it ...