When Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States on January 20, many in the U.S. and other parts of the world tended to believe that the U.S. would experience dramatic changes in the first two years of his presidency, creating a world full of uncertainties.

Trump’s ascension to power was bad news for Beijing, especially because his “Make America Great Again” vision collides with Xi’s “Chinese dream” to make this the “Chinese century.” Yet China thus far has not only escaped any punitive American counteraction on trade and security matters, but also the expected Trump-Xi bonhomie at Mar-a-Lago could advertise that the more things change, the more they stay the same in U.S. foreign policy.

Common strategic interests of both countries require the U.S. and China to contribute to a new security framework in Asia-Pacific, by working together towards a better security arrangement for the region. Over-reliance on military alliances targeting third parties cannot replace efforts to provide adequate security for all.

The sea issue is a stumbling block in China-US relations, but it’s not clear that the new president sees it as more important that the RMB exchange rate or other issues in the bilateral relationship. In that case, “freedom of navigation” there could be used by Trump as a bargaining chip in negotiations about issues that concern him more.

America’s biggest enemy today is neither China nor Russia, but its own identity crisis. Resorting to out-of-date thinking to seek a new “balancing” strategy of realigned alliances makes no sense in today’s economically interdependent world. Turning potential friends into foes, on the other hand, could lead the country in a terrible direction.

The swarm approach – by hitting Beijing on multiple issues in at once in a flurry – seems to be calculated upon Trump’s own business approach. This projects that Trump’s “leverage” over Beijing would compel painful concessions from China on core issues because of its fear over Washington’s scorn and threats.

Sending the first US aircraft-carrier combat group to patrol the South China Sea since the Philippines arbitration has unsettled the region. The US military should promote new trust-building with its Chinese counterpart, and the administration can ease tensions with a clear statement on sovereignty over South China Sea features.

Trump should be wary of two major traps that history has set for him - the “Thucydides Trap", as well as the “Kindleberger Trap”: a China that seems too weak rather than too strong.

President Trump, in clinging to this narrative, promises to fight a war long past with weapons that are likely to hurt his allies as much as his supposed enemy. Hardly a vision of America being made great again.

So where is the pivot? No, not the Obama Administration’s Asian pivot. I’m speaking of another pivot. This one was to occur when candidate Trump transformed from candidate to President-elect and then President.