Trump 2.0: The Great Disruption Year

Steven Okun moderated Trump 2.0: The Great Disruption Year at The Nanson - featuring Deborah Elms, Taimur Baig and Ethan Wu, From “T.O.T.U.S" (Trade Outside the U.S.) to what one speaker called “a great moment of incoherence,” the conversation dove straight into how Trump 2.0 has turned global trade into something deeply personal.

The U.S. isn’t running on policy so much as personality - decisions made on instinct, not institutions. China, meanwhile, is rewriting its own rulebook. Its EV diplomacy and tech partnerships - like full-scale transfers to India - show a country learning to play nice even as it tests how far its influence can stretch.

But the contradictions are everywhere: the U.S. trade deficit is worse than before, tariffs keep piling up, and both sides are discovering that power doesn’t always translate into control. Across Southeast Asia, governments are hedging - betting that China will stoke domestic demand while trying not to get caught in the middle.

Top it all off with an AI surge that could turn from boom to bust in an instant, and it’s clear: the Great Disruption Year is far from over.