For years, Washington insisted it stood shoulder to shoulder with Taiwan. Then Trump sat down with Xi Jinping, flew home, and quietly shelved a $14 billion arms package without bothering to mention it to the people it was meant to protect.

Taiwan’s National Security Council chief found out the way you find out your car has been repossessed: not from the owner, but from the neighbours.

The official explanation is almost admirably brazen. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told senators the weapons need to be held back for Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

It is, at this point, beginning to look like a mantra: start a war in Iran that nobody asked for, and make sure Europe, Ukraine, and Taiwan never see the American weapons they already paid for.

Trump called Taiwan’s security a “negotiating chip” with China. Honest, at least.

Within days of the summit, China deployed over 100 navy and coast guard vessels around the first island chain. A coincidence, presumably. A very large, very coordinated one.

At what point do allies stop being allies at all? Iran gets bombed. China gets courted. Taiwan gets its notice. Europe gets the bill. Ukraine gets the silence.

No adversary has done more damage to America’s alliance network than the Trump regime. History will search for a precedent and come up empty.

Five years ago, Washington would have called this Chinese propaganda.

It isn’t. It’s just Tuesday.