Ezra Klein: On AI, Donald Trump Has Acted Like a 'Manchurian Agent' for China

Ezra Klein, host of the New York Times Opinion podcast The Ezra Klein Show, said Donald Trump has handed China the advantage his administration says it is fighting for. On technology and artificial intelligence, Klein argued, the president "has acted like a Manchurian agent."

Klein said it in an episode with Chrystia Freeland, a former Canadian deputy prime minister and finance minister who was a lead negotiator for Canada in trade talks with the first Trump administration. The phrase, a nod to the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, is rhetorical. Klein did not allege any collusion between Trump and Beijing. His argument was that bullying allies has pushed them toward China.

Ezra Klein on Trump, China and AI

"For technology and AI, Trump has acted like a Manchurian agent. I mean, he has put China in incredibly strong position compared to where it was even a couple of years ago," Klein said.

He measured Trump against the administration's own goals. "To the extent the Trump administration had a coherent theory of the case, it has always been about American competition with China," he said. The episode played a clip of Trump making the opposite case: "You know, we're beating China. You know it. China knows it. In fact, President Xi congratulated me."

Klein argued that "what countries want above all from counterparties is predictability and reliability." He called China a predictable partner, even in unequal relationships, "whereas Trump is an erratic counterparty." China does not uphold a fair, rules-based order, he added: "They're obviously not reliable at that."

Freeland agreed with the main point. "I totally agree with your observation that there has not been a president who has been more beneficial for China than Donald Trump," she said. "Astonishing, astonishing how this has helped China."

She also pushed back: "let's not fall for the Chinese propaganda, right?" Freeland pointed to Beijing's ban on Norwegian salmon after a Nobel Prize went to a Chinese writer, and its detention of two Canadians after Canada arrested Huawei's chief financial officer on a U.S. extradition request. On trade, she said China broke the global trading system through overcapacity and supply chain dominance, an issue that helped elect Trump and "an area where I think he has a point."

What the Polling Shows

Klein brought up the Democracy Perception Index to back up Freeland's point that allies now see the U.S. as a bigger threat than China. The 2026 index, run by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation and Nira Data, surveyed more than 94,000 people in 98 countries. It gave the U.S. a net perception of minus 16 percent, below Russia at minus 11 and China at plus 7, Al-Monitor reported.

A Leger survey conducted August 28–31 found that 41 percent of Canadians consider the U.S. an enemy country, up from 26 percent in June 2025. Twenty-two percent called it an ally and 22 percent called it neutral.

Pew Research Center's spring 2026 survey found that 44 percent of Canadians view China favorably, compared with 33 percent for the U.S. In 2023 the U.S. stood at 57 percent and China at 14.

Canada Turns to China and Europe

U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed on the night of Friday, August 21, just before 50 percent U.S. tariffs on Canadian dairy, alcohol, cement and hockey equipment took effect, NPR reported. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada "declined to finalize the trade deal." Carney said last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were "unfair, uneconomic" and called the reliability of any deal into question. Canada matched the tariffs dollar for dollar starting September 8. Trump then threatened 50 percent tariffs on all cars, trucks, auto parts and steel starting January 1, 2027.

Carney had already turned toward Beijing. In January he became the first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017, returning with a deal that initially lets up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada at a 6.1 percent tariff, while Canada said China would cut canola seed duties to about 15 percent from 84 percent by March 1, Al Jazeera reported. In September, Carney welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to make Canada the European Union's first associate member. Trump suggested the arrangement could be a "hostile act."

"The biggest winner is China," Freeland said of allies pulling away from Washington.

What Happens Next

Freeland said a finished deal is not needed by the deadline: "there doesn't have to be a deal before January 1st, there just has to be getting into a negotiation." She urged other democracies to join Canada in retaliating and said "I think the midterm results will be really, really important." Business leaders, she argued, may change course if Trump and MAGA stop delivering at the ballot box. Klein replied, "I think that might be right."