New analysis reveals that Donald Trump's 'America First' agenda has accelerated a profound shift in the global order, pushing countries diplomatically closer to Beijing, as evidenced by UN voting records.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has accelerated a profound shift in the global order, according to new analysis. A report from Focal Data, which analyses UN voting records, reveals how Washington’s “America First” agenda has started to redraw the geopolitical map in favour of China. In 2026, the world is now diplomatically closer to Beijing than it has been in recent memory, with significant shifts in alignments taking place during the start of Trump’s second presidential term. How Trump's isolationism pushed the world to China US/China alignment by country, 2024 versus 2025, based on UN voting records Change in alignment Current alignment Moved towards US Moved towards China Guardian graphic. Source: Focal Data. Notes: Based on analysis of votes on UN resolutions. A score can move towards either China or US either because they are voting more proactively with that country, but also because they are simply not voting as frequently with the country on the other end of the scale. Some countries unavailable due to insufficient voting data
