Beijing sees Trump’s disruptive actions — his gutting of institutions of U.S. soft power, his launching of trade wars, his steady eroding of trust in the U.S. alliance system — as acts of self-sabotage that need no Chinese prompting. Better for now, as Gen Z would say, to let him cook.

President Donald Trump deflected questions over Jeffrey Epstein's files, choosing instead to target his political enemies and repeat falsehoods and longtime grievances.