‘Not Doing It Directly’: Trump Targeting China Through Iran Conflict, Expert Argues

The U.S. and Israeli forces have launched multiple strikes on Iran in the last few days, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although President Donald Trump said that the operation was necessary to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, experts believe he had an ulterior motive to strike the country.

According to political analyst Gordon Guthrie Chang, Trump’s real target is not Iran, but China. While some observers think the president has shifted focus from China to Venezuela and Iran, Chang said Trump might be killing two birds with one stone.

Chang recently appeared for an interview with journalist Jan Jekielek, during which he highlighted how Trump is trying to weaken China by targeting its key allies. He explained, “I believe that President Trump is going after the Chinese, and he’s not doing it directly, but he is doing it indirectly, and he’s cutting off their sources of support.”

The conservative columnist noted that both Venezuela and Iran are contributors to China’s oil imports. By disrupting the oil markets in both countries, Trump has seemingly tried to cripple China’s economy.

Chang added, “Venezuela supplies maybe 3 to 4% of China’s imported oil, but Iran was somewhere between 15 and 23%, depending on the year. And that’s important because when you put those two numbers together, you get a significant portion of China’s imported oil has now been taken off the board.”

Talking about how the Venezuela and Iran strikes are going to impact China in the long run, Chang stated, “Trump may allow the Venezuelans to sell oil to China, but not at the heavily discounted rates that China was benefiting from. And Chinese factories are now dependent on cheap oil. Well, they’re not getting it anymore. If they get their oil, they’re going to have to pay market prices.”

Chang also mentioned the National Security Strategy document released in November 2025, which says that the U.S. would not allow any competitor to control the South China Sea. According to Chang, the document has made the Trump administration's intentions toward China clear. “If you look at the national security strategy, it’s very clear that China is a high priority,” he told Jekielek.

Some analysts said Trump had gone soft on China after the POTUS met China’s President Xi Jinping in October 2025 and agreed to a one-year truce in the trade war. The two leaders are now scheduled to meet again, as Trump is heading to Beijing at the end of March.

The summit has not been called off, despite the U.S. and Israeli strikes. The military campaign began on February 28 in a joint effort with Israel. The administration has claimed that most of the top leadership in the Iranian regime has been eliminated. However, the war continues as Iran is fighting back by launching attacks on U.S. military bases in Middle Eastern countries like Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.