Do you see any indication the US would want to go to war with China?

Of course not.

Only that the “Commander In Chief” is who he is, and has talked about the idea of a president starting a war to secure their own reelection. But much more likely Iran, which his oil-industry string-pullers have wanted done for a long time. And Iran, unlike China, lacks the ability to devastate the USA with nuclear missiles.

Attacking China would be an incredibly terrible and catastrophic idea, even for Trump, though.

Egad—that obviously photoshopped image of Trump looks worse than Kukla, Fran and Ollie rolled into one.

When you see an image so grotesquely retouched, @Zaku, how can you take the article seriously?

But no, Trump has never promoted a military strike against anyone unless they strike first.

@Yellowdog
He looks a lot worse in real life.

No, not a chance. China is a nuclear power. There has been an economic war going on silently for quite a while though. China is grabbing power wherever it can slowly and discretely. It’s most visible in places like the South China sea. Potential for a long cold war is probably there though.

Unlikely. But it doesn’t help that the Democrats are again trying to criticize Trump from the right, exacerbating anti-Asian sentiment here in the US. Biden’s xenophobic campaign ad isn’t likely to cause a war, but it does show how “bipartisan” is not a good thing. It would be nice to have an opposition party.

Besides creating a hostile environment for Asian Americans, it would be nice to not have to worry about people escalating tensions between two nuclear powers over what amounts to a sporting match (election).

No – that would mean mutual annihilation.

Fuehrer Trump wants to get peoples’ minds of his coronavirus screwups so he is trying to manufacture a war.

I do think it’s possible but not probable.

——-
Despite recent progress against the disease, China has much to answer for in its response to the coronavirus: its initial coverup, its continuing lack of transparency, its failure to cooperate fully with U.S. and international medical authorities, and its blatant propaganda campaign to shift the blame for the crisis to the United States. It is possible that future revelations will raise more questions. Notwithstanding this, we the undersigned believe that the logic for cooperation is compelling.
——-
https://china.ucsd.edu/statement/index.html

“Egad—that obviously photoshopped image of Trump looks worse than Kukla, Fran and Ollie rolled into one.”

“When you see an image so grotesquely retouched, @Zaku, how can you take the article seriously?”
– That’s his awful make-up, in an unflattering still shot. (See the recent question we had here about still shots of people.) It’s certainly not the least flattering shot of Trump I’ve seen. I don’t have a problem with it, nor do I think it’s an inaccurate representation.

“But no, Trump has never promoted a military strike against anyone unless they strike first.”
– According to the hawks, quite a lot of Middle East violence has qualified as attacks by Iran… they’ve just been waiting for something to seem like a good enough excuse they feel it won’t be utterly obvious they’re just invading Iran because they’ve always wanted to.

No.
What you are describing is expensive.
The US doesn’t have the money and so would have to borrow the money. Given the current debt, nobody not even US banks, would probably lend it.
And nobody would lend that kind of money to China. No one else has it, plus they would never see it again.

I can hear Trump threatening, but I can’t see him going ahead with starting a war. It’s almost as though he’s the biggest braggart and yet the greatest coward when faced with the realities of the consequences, particularly as he promised no new engagements.

As I understand it, Congress would have to approve and they most likely wouldn’t. Plus America has the doctrine of innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and if the virus is the reason for hostilities, then going by that doctrine, China is innocent and therefore war would be based on circumstantial evidence.

As long as other people are in danger he’s fine with starting a war.