When Trump dropped a White House TV ad stacked with stealth bombers and anti-communist rhetoric right as Xi Jinping arrived, most people thought it was just standard political posturing. They missed the point completely. That video wasn't meant for the American voter. It was a direct, calculated message to Beijing.
Back in the 1980s, there was a famous marketing book called Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind That Birthed the "Cola Wars." Pepsi couldn't out-tradition Coke, so they repositioned them, making Coke look like "your grandfather's drink" while Pepsi became "the choice of a new generation." That is pure positioning. It’s about manipulating perception, because perception becomes reality.
That’s exactly what Trump is doing on the global stage.
You do not host a communist leader in your office and release an ad saying "we will never be communist" just to get out of a meeting. That makes no sense. You do it to remind foreign adversaries who think America is on the ropes that behind the diplomatic smiles, we have an unmatched force and we can do this ALL DAY LONG.