US President Donald Trump's economic policies, aimed at boosting American manufacturing and curbing China, have unexpectedly fostered closer ties between India and China. The intended goals of 'Make America Great Again' have seen little progress.

Perhaps the most fascinating and important aspects of US President Donald Trump’s jolt to the global economy have been its unintended consequences, especially the impact on relations between China and India. Two consistent aspects of Trump’s meandering narrative are to “make America great again” by bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US, and to hobble China as an economic and strategic threat. A decade later, there has been negligible progress on either objective. Instead, the unintended...